By Prak Chan Thul
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
"There is only one grenade. Storm in
and shoot them all to death."
—Unidentified Official,
Audible On Video Footage
Of June 18 Prison Siege
and shoot them all to death."
—Unidentified Official,
Audible On Video Footage
Of June 18 Prison Siege
Chilling new video footage of the June 18 Battambang province jail siege, during which at least eight prisoners and one prison guard were killed, appears to show that the hostage takers were gunned down by police special forces as they cowered behind two motorcycles in the sealed-off jail compound.
The footage raises questions about the version of events reported by police at the time, and also shows seriously injured prisoners, bound and bleeding, left without medical attention, including one prisoner gasping for air with bullet wounds in his chest.
The video appears to indicate that little attempt was made to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, which began at 9 am and ended near 3 pm when eight prisoners, armed with one handgun and a grenade, used prison guard Soeung Khun as a human shield.
According to the footage, the standoff ended with the arrival of around 12 special forces police officers, who were ordered by Intervention Police-Chief Ek Kret to take up positions on the prison walls.
In the video, the unit dressed in black and armed with high-tech weaponry takes up positions overlooking the hostage takers, who had their backs to a wall and squatted behind two Honda motorbikes at the locked doorway to the women's prison wing.
The special forces unit appears to begin its attack by firing two tear gas canisters on either side of the prisoners before opening up with volleys of automatic weapon fire.
Bullets rip into the huddle of hostage takers and lone hostage. Bodies twitch and slump behind the protection of the flimsy motorcycles and bullets impact around the group. After a brief lull in the shooting, a grenade is heard to explode among the pile of mostly motionless bodies. Later footage shows that hostage Soeung Khun took the full blast of the grenade.
Battambang Deputy Provincial Police Chief Mao Toan said at the time of the siege that the hostage takers had committed suicide with the grenade "because they were determined to get out" and had realized that their escape plan had failed.
"We wanted to arrest them alive," he added at the time.
Contacted on Wednesday about the video, Ek Kret said his officers did not open fire first, and was adamant that the inmates killed themselves with the grenade.
"We shot the tear gas and they threw the grenade at themselves," he said, adding that negotiations to end the siege were conducted throughout the day. Ek Kret also said that the Interior Ministry had already confiscated all copies of the video, which he said could cause a mess.
"I wonder who took the video. It was not the police who did it," he added.
Adhoc Provincial Coordinator Yin Mengly said at the time that the ringleader of the escapees, Chuon Thy, had placed a grenade on the guard's body and that it may have detonated accidentally during the confusion caused by the tear gas.
He also reported that the shooting started after the tear gas was used. This version of events appears consistent with the footage viewed Wednesday.
Yin Mengly said Wednesday that the video was on sale in Battambang province one week after the failed escape, but that he did not watch it. He added that shots were fired first and that the grenade was then detonated.
In the video, women and young children, who were confined inside the female prisoners' wing throughout the siege, are freed after the jailbreakers are killed.
Scurrying from the prison wing, which resembles a large concrete shed, the women and children run to puddles of water in the compound to douse their face and eyes to ease the effect of the tear gas.
Early in the siege, police can be heard off camera taking potshots at other would-be escapees inside the compound as several inmates armed with wooden cudgels, apparently working on behalf of authorities, separate the small group of hostage takers from scores of surrendering prisoners.
Herding the surrendered prisoners to one side of the prison compound, the cudgel-wielding inmates can be seen punching other inmates as they strip them, bind their arms behind their backs and corral them into a separate section of the compound.
With the prison compound secure and the eight hostage-takers confined to the closed doorway of the women's wing, police then enter the jail and wait for the arrival of the special forces unit.
Conversation caught on the video includes one official saying: "There is only one grenade. Storm in and shoot them all to death."
Another comments: "Remember that we will kill all if you attack police."
Shortly after the hostage takers are killed. National Police Commissioner Hok Lundy arrives at the compound with Deputy National Police Chief Neth Savoeun to inspect the completed operation.
The day after the prison incident, Hok Lundy told reporters that lethal force was ordered to prevent the escape of 1,000 other prisoners. He also disputed the number of dead, saying that there were only five fatalities, and denied that the hostage takers were gunned down in a group.
"The problem was solved technically," he claimed at the time.
The footage, however, shows that the remaining prisoners in the compound were secured before the final shooting began and that the escapees were shot in a group.
Adhoc put the number of dead at 10, claiming that four of the wounded had died in prison because they didn't receive sufficient medical care. Eight bodies of slain prisoners and one of a prison official are evident on the video.
Battambang prison deputy director Chay Sovann reported June 21 that nine inmates had been buried inside the prison compound following the failed escape attempt. The slain inmates' bodies were not returned to their families because they had not yet finished their prison sentences, he said.
On Wednesday, Prison Director Kang Saren said that he had heard about the video but hadn't watched it and reiterated that the grenade had killed the hostage takers and their hostage.
"We negotiated from around 11 or 12 pm until 3 pm," he said. "They died of the grenade when they saw a lot of rifles. The grenade already had the pin taken out."
Adhoc investigator Chan Soveth said Wednesday that the hostage takees were being shot at and that police did little to protect the hostage.
"It was a risk," Chan Soveth said. "It was the intention of the authorities not to let it expand."
In March 2005, 17 inmates were slain during a prison break in Kompong Cham province. Two prison officials were also killed.
The footage raises questions about the version of events reported by police at the time, and also shows seriously injured prisoners, bound and bleeding, left without medical attention, including one prisoner gasping for air with bullet wounds in his chest.
The video appears to indicate that little attempt was made to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, which began at 9 am and ended near 3 pm when eight prisoners, armed with one handgun and a grenade, used prison guard Soeung Khun as a human shield.
According to the footage, the standoff ended with the arrival of around 12 special forces police officers, who were ordered by Intervention Police-Chief Ek Kret to take up positions on the prison walls.
In the video, the unit dressed in black and armed with high-tech weaponry takes up positions overlooking the hostage takers, who had their backs to a wall and squatted behind two Honda motorbikes at the locked doorway to the women's prison wing.
The special forces unit appears to begin its attack by firing two tear gas canisters on either side of the prisoners before opening up with volleys of automatic weapon fire.
Bullets rip into the huddle of hostage takers and lone hostage. Bodies twitch and slump behind the protection of the flimsy motorcycles and bullets impact around the group. After a brief lull in the shooting, a grenade is heard to explode among the pile of mostly motionless bodies. Later footage shows that hostage Soeung Khun took the full blast of the grenade.
Battambang Deputy Provincial Police Chief Mao Toan said at the time of the siege that the hostage takers had committed suicide with the grenade "because they were determined to get out" and had realized that their escape plan had failed.
"We wanted to arrest them alive," he added at the time.
Contacted on Wednesday about the video, Ek Kret said his officers did not open fire first, and was adamant that the inmates killed themselves with the grenade.
"We shot the tear gas and they threw the grenade at themselves," he said, adding that negotiations to end the siege were conducted throughout the day. Ek Kret also said that the Interior Ministry had already confiscated all copies of the video, which he said could cause a mess.
"I wonder who took the video. It was not the police who did it," he added.
Adhoc Provincial Coordinator Yin Mengly said at the time that the ringleader of the escapees, Chuon Thy, had placed a grenade on the guard's body and that it may have detonated accidentally during the confusion caused by the tear gas.
He also reported that the shooting started after the tear gas was used. This version of events appears consistent with the footage viewed Wednesday.
Yin Mengly said Wednesday that the video was on sale in Battambang province one week after the failed escape, but that he did not watch it. He added that shots were fired first and that the grenade was then detonated.
In the video, women and young children, who were confined inside the female prisoners' wing throughout the siege, are freed after the jailbreakers are killed.
Scurrying from the prison wing, which resembles a large concrete shed, the women and children run to puddles of water in the compound to douse their face and eyes to ease the effect of the tear gas.
Early in the siege, police can be heard off camera taking potshots at other would-be escapees inside the compound as several inmates armed with wooden cudgels, apparently working on behalf of authorities, separate the small group of hostage takers from scores of surrendering prisoners.
Herding the surrendered prisoners to one side of the prison compound, the cudgel-wielding inmates can be seen punching other inmates as they strip them, bind their arms behind their backs and corral them into a separate section of the compound.
With the prison compound secure and the eight hostage-takers confined to the closed doorway of the women's wing, police then enter the jail and wait for the arrival of the special forces unit.
Conversation caught on the video includes one official saying: "There is only one grenade. Storm in and shoot them all to death."
Another comments: "Remember that we will kill all if you attack police."
Shortly after the hostage takers are killed. National Police Commissioner Hok Lundy arrives at the compound with Deputy National Police Chief Neth Savoeun to inspect the completed operation.
The day after the prison incident, Hok Lundy told reporters that lethal force was ordered to prevent the escape of 1,000 other prisoners. He also disputed the number of dead, saying that there were only five fatalities, and denied that the hostage takers were gunned down in a group.
"The problem was solved technically," he claimed at the time.
The footage, however, shows that the remaining prisoners in the compound were secured before the final shooting began and that the escapees were shot in a group.
Adhoc put the number of dead at 10, claiming that four of the wounded had died in prison because they didn't receive sufficient medical care. Eight bodies of slain prisoners and one of a prison official are evident on the video.
Battambang prison deputy director Chay Sovann reported June 21 that nine inmates had been buried inside the prison compound following the failed escape attempt. The slain inmates' bodies were not returned to their families because they had not yet finished their prison sentences, he said.
On Wednesday, Prison Director Kang Saren said that he had heard about the video but hadn't watched it and reiterated that the grenade had killed the hostage takers and their hostage.
"We negotiated from around 11 or 12 pm until 3 pm," he said. "They died of the grenade when they saw a lot of rifles. The grenade already had the pin taken out."
Adhoc investigator Chan Soveth said Wednesday that the hostage takees were being shot at and that police did little to protect the hostage.
"It was a risk," Chan Soveth said. "It was the intention of the authorities not to let it expand."
In March 2005, 17 inmates were slain during a prison break in Kompong Cham province. Two prison officials were also killed.
1 comment:
Hok Lundy and his slaves are all SLOBS. They resolved this crisis by shooting EVERYONE.
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