Trio charged with killing Hun Sun's brother-in-law
Trio charged with killing Hun Sun's brother-in-law
PHNOM PENH (AFP): Three members of Cambodia's leading opposition party have been arrested and charged with the unsolved murder of Second Prime Minister Hun Sen's brother-in-law, court officials said yesterday.
The trio, allegedly members of dissident Sam Rainsy's unrecognized Khmer Nation Party (KNP), were charged Monday with the murder of Khov Samuth according to officials and court documents.
Khov Samuth, a senior interior ministry official and the husband of Hun Sen's wife's sister, was gunned down outside a popular Phnom Penh restaurant on Nov. 19.
The three were named as Srun Vong Vannak, 30, head of KNP security, Prum Meanrith, 37, alleged to be Sam Rainsy's military adviser and Sos Kasem, 26, alleged to be a member of KNP's security detail.
Sam Rainsy could confirm only that Srun Vong Vannak was a member of the party. He said the other two were not known to him and he also denied he had a military adviser.
"The two names do not ring any bells with me, but they might be members," he said, noting that the KNP had more than 220,000 members at the moment.
Details of the evidence against the three men were not immediately available but court officials said a police press conference had been scheduled for today to elaborate on the charges.
Sam Rainsy said the arrest of his security chief was against criminal procedures as Srun Vong Vannak has been missing since Feb. 10.
He said he believed that Srun Vong Vannak had been in illegal detention for most, if not all, of the time he was missing.
An initial investigation into the murder of Khov Samuth failed to produce any suspects though Hun Sen said the killing appeared to be politically motivated.
The murder occurred just three days after a group of alleged underground Khmer Rouge terrorists, speaking to reporters at Hun Sen's home, accused the royalist FUNCINPEC party of conspiring to cover up links between the KNP and the Khmer Rouge guerrilla faction.
Hun Sen, the leader of the formerly communist Cambodian People's Party, FUNCINPEC's main rival and partner in the current coalition government, charged after the murder that responsibility lay with "certain politicians".
FUNCINPEC president and First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh angrily denied the alleged terrorists' claims as did KNP president Sam Rainsy.