Cambodian opposition leader repeats state murder claims

By Julia Wallace

PHNOM PENH (AA) - The leader of the Cambodian opposition has repeated a claim that the recent murder of a political commentator was state-sponsored, daring the Cambodian government to sue him if it wants it disproved.

Since the July 10 killing of popular commentator Kem Ley in broad daylight at a Phnom Penh gas station, opposition leader Sam Rainsy has repeatedly said that the murder was a political assassination.

In a statement shortly after the murder, he compared it to the 2004 murder of prominent unionist Chea Vichea and a grenade attack on one of Rainsy’s own rallies -- both famous crimes in Cambodian history that many believe were orchestrated by the government.

On Thursday, local media reported that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) had demanded that Rainsy – who is currently living in France to escape a prison sentence for defamation of a government official -- provide proof.

According to the Phnom Penh Post, CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said that the party would consider legal action if Rainsy did not back up or retract his claim.

Rainsy, however, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that he stood by the statement and said the government could take him to court if it dared

“I dare the Hun Sen government to sue me for ‘defamation’ before the French court in Paris… based also on recent posts on my Facebook page,” he said in an email.

“Just a clue I will elaborate before any independent court,” he added.

“Kem Ley's assassination followed the same pattern of political assassinations since the March 30, 1997 deadly grenade attack where I nearly died myself. All these assassinations are definitely acts of state-sponsored terrorism.”

Hun Sen has offered condolences to Kem Ley’s family and condemned the murder, vowing that the culprit would be brought to justice.

A man arrested running away from the gas station with his face streaked in blood shortly after the incident has been charged with premeditated murder and jailed.

He has confessed to having shot Kem Ley over a $3,000 debt he said the commentator owed him. However, the fact that he gave his name as Chuob Somlab, or “Meet Kill” in the Khmer language, and that his family and friends said he had never met Kem Ley have led many Cambodians to doubt this story.

This week, a pair of twins who had met with Kem Ley two days before his death announced that they were fleeing the country and would seek political asylum in Thailand.

Environmental activists Chum Hour and Chum Hout did not have a high profile ahead of the death, but were quoted in local media after the killing as saying that they had noticed people spying on them during their meeting with Kem Ley, which took place at the same gas station where the analyst was killed.

Last week, the brothers posted to their shared Facebook profile a “selfie” of them sitting on an airplane, passports in hand and heads shaven in mourning, accompanied by a caption that said they had been “forced to leave” Cambodia.

On Wednesday, they said in a Facebook message that they had applied for asylum at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) office in Bangkok on Monday, and that they were afraid for their safety because they had seen three men spying on their meeting with Kem Ley on July 8.

“Monday on 18th we apply to UNHCR in Bangkok,” they told Anadolu Agency.

“Just put a l[e]tter in front of the un and then went back. now we waiting reply from un.”

Kem Ley’s body has been laid out at a pagoda in Phnom Penh since his death, attracting tens of thousands of mourners who have come to pay their respects.

His corpse is scheduled to be brought to his home province in an elaborate procession scheduled for Sunday.