Translated from Khmer by Heng SoyOriginal PDF version in Khmer can be found here
Declaration Provided by Mrs. Va Sothy
Kingdom of Cambodia
Nation – Religion – King
Statement on the murder of Chea Vichea
Declaration Provided by Mrs. Va Sothy
Kingdom of Cambodia
Nation – Religion – King
Statement on the murder of Chea Vichea
I, Va Sothy, a Cambodian citizen who is a former newspapers and magazines seller in Phnom Penh located near the western fence of the Langka pagoda, and currently living in Thailand, would like to provide below the event related to the assassination of Mr. Chea Vichea.
On 22 January 2004, at around 8:00 AM, I and Mr. Chea Vichea were sitting and reading newspaper near my newsstand. At the same time, two men arrived in a gray (black and gray) color motorbike bearing the Wave brand, and stopped in front of my stand. The man sitting on the backseat walked over to my stand. The motorbike driver slowly continued his way to the north while he was looking at me, then he took off. The man who walked over to read the newspaper, he was reading this newspaper and that for about 20 minutes, but he did not buy anything nor did he ask about anything. As the man did not buy anything and instead started to pay attention to the situation around him, I started to follow his activities. I noticed that the man stared at me and Mr. Chea Vichea several times, however, I did not pay too much attention on him, and I turned to face Mr. Chea Vichea. Suddenly, I heard 3 loud gunshots near me, as Mr. Chea Vichea fell down, I saw a black handgun in the hand of the man standing in front of me, he shot Mr. Chea Vichea at very close range and after the shots, he put the gun back into his pocket and calmly walked away safely to the south.
I am providing the description of the assassin, as well as the driver of the motorbike below:
1- The killer of Mr. Chea Vichea is approximately 1.6 meters high, between 27 and 30 years of age, has straight black hair parted to the side, dark eyebrows, not too pointed nose, his lower lip is not very full, had small ears, dark brown pupils, sharp looking eyes, his sideburns are not long. He has medium dark skin complexion, wears a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeve buttoned at the cuff, his shirt was not tugged inside his pant, the shirt has a normal double collar. He was polite, and is well educated as if he were an expert in some kind of field, he was an attentive and patient man.
2- The driver of the motorbike is about 25-year-old, with about the same skin complexion as the assassin, has black hair parted to the side, he seems very alert and vigilant.
Immediately after the killing of Mr. Chea Vichea, I used my personal mobile phone to call for an ambulance to come and help him. Only a few minutes after the incident, the police authorities from the district, Khan, and city level as well as a larger number of other police authorities arrived at the incident place almost instantaneously. I then helped pick up the body of Mr. Chea Vichea and grabbed a copy of the Koh Santepheap newspaper to put underneath his head, and I took the mobile phone form the shirt pocket of the victim to call looking for his relatives to tell them about the incident occurring to him. Immediately, the police officers wrestled the phone away from my hand and told me: “Don’t be nosy,” at the same time, I heard the police officers telling each other that their superiors order them to take the body out of the incident area as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the police officers asked numerous questions on this killing. The body of Mr. Chea Vichea was searched by the police, examined by them for the injuries sustained, and they took out all the belongings of the dead person, after that they took his body to put in a police car under the protests from relatives of Mr. Chea Vichea, however, the latter could not have their say and the police drove the car out immediately. Mr. Chea Vichea was shot once in his head, once on his chest, and once on his left wrist. During the confusion, the police called me to provide clarifications at the Khan police station, however, I refused to go because I was afraid that they would kill me also, being the witness. After the police took away the body of Mr. Chea Vichea, the ambulance arrived. As for me, I had to affix the right hand thumbprint on the police report, [the police] did not read back to me the content in this report for me to hear.
I want to note that since the assassination took place in front of my newsstand, and believing that the assassination could involve senior government officials, I provided false information to the police officers such as the brand of the motorbike which I told them to be a dark purple Dream C100, and I also told them I could not remember too well the face of the killer. Furthermore, the police kept on questioning me on the shooting of Mr. Chea Vichea during the day of the incident, the district and Khan police came to my home to re-question me again. The next day, the same group of police officers came to my home to question me one more time, but I maintained the same answers as I provided them before, this time they showed me from their file a 4x6 picture of a man, as well as a sketch, they asked me if I recognize the person on the picture and the one on the sketch. If the face of the killer looks like any on these two pictures? I told them that I do not know [the person on the pictures] and I cannot remember. Later on, the police came to my home again, this time accompanied by a sketch expert. The sketcher asked me several questions on the description of the killer, I told him that I could not remember the face of the killer. The reason I did not provide the truth was because I believed that if I were to tell the truth, I would endanger my life and face death because they want to eliminate all proofs. Several days later, several newspapers issued sketches of the would-be-killer who resemble the picture the police showed me earlier, and it was said that the sketch of the killer was based on explanations provided by one witness. Because on the day Mr. Chea Vichea was shot, there was nobody else besides me and Mr. Chea Vichea, I decided to call Mr. Heng Pov using the number his police officers gave me after the day of the incident. I asked him why the newspapers published the sketch and said that it was provided by one witness because on the day of the incident, I was the only one who witnessed it. Mr. Heng Pov told me that the assassin had been arrested last night, and that I should remain silent and answer only according to what I was told and say that the two [who were arrested] are the killers of Mr. Chea Vichea. Later TV stations and newspapers publicly published the pictures of two men: Mr. Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang, and claimed that they are the killers of Mr. Chea Vichea. I believe that they (the police) are showing the fake killers because I remember very well the face of the killer, and he is not on the published pictures. I also note that after the arrest of Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang by the authority, the police never ask me anything else, but I observed that the police are always following my daily chores.
One month later, I saw the killer of Mr. Chea Vichea at my newsstand to buy a newspaper. He rode a black motorbike (Dog? brand), and he asked me what are the newspapers published today, as I turned to face the person who asked me the question, I was so surprised and I was very scared because he is the killer of Mr. Chea Vichea. He stared at me, then went back to his motorbike and took off without buying anything.
Regarding the various Phnom Penh municipal court summons asking me to show up to provide clarifications, I never went to the court at all because I believe that if I answer, I would be killed.
Furthermore, the trial of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is very unfair for them, and it cannot be accepted by any human being in the world living in a country calling itself a democracy and a country with a rule of law. Instead of the real killer, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Boeun were sentenced to 20-year jail term by the court.
Since the fake killers are sent to jail and the real killers go free, and justice can no longer be trusted, if I were to try to remain in Cambodia, I believe that I will face death, and I will not have the opportunity to tell the truth to the nation and the international community on the killing of Mr. Chea Vichea, as well as the arrest of innocent people instead of the real killer, with great regret, I decided to leave Cambodia and ask the UN for refuge in Thailand.
To conclude this declaration, I am calling the Cambodian government, all levels of authorities, in particular the justice system, as well as the United Nations and the International community to rethink this issue and provide justice according to the law. I am calling for the release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun so they can find freedom again because they are not the real killers.
I hope that this call will provide justice for the accused and for my country in the future.
Bangkok, 10 August 2006
Signed: Va Sothy
On 22 January 2004, at around 8:00 AM, I and Mr. Chea Vichea were sitting and reading newspaper near my newsstand. At the same time, two men arrived in a gray (black and gray) color motorbike bearing the Wave brand, and stopped in front of my stand. The man sitting on the backseat walked over to my stand. The motorbike driver slowly continued his way to the north while he was looking at me, then he took off. The man who walked over to read the newspaper, he was reading this newspaper and that for about 20 minutes, but he did not buy anything nor did he ask about anything. As the man did not buy anything and instead started to pay attention to the situation around him, I started to follow his activities. I noticed that the man stared at me and Mr. Chea Vichea several times, however, I did not pay too much attention on him, and I turned to face Mr. Chea Vichea. Suddenly, I heard 3 loud gunshots near me, as Mr. Chea Vichea fell down, I saw a black handgun in the hand of the man standing in front of me, he shot Mr. Chea Vichea at very close range and after the shots, he put the gun back into his pocket and calmly walked away safely to the south.
I am providing the description of the assassin, as well as the driver of the motorbike below:
1- The killer of Mr. Chea Vichea is approximately 1.6 meters high, between 27 and 30 years of age, has straight black hair parted to the side, dark eyebrows, not too pointed nose, his lower lip is not very full, had small ears, dark brown pupils, sharp looking eyes, his sideburns are not long. He has medium dark skin complexion, wears a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeve buttoned at the cuff, his shirt was not tugged inside his pant, the shirt has a normal double collar. He was polite, and is well educated as if he were an expert in some kind of field, he was an attentive and patient man.
2- The driver of the motorbike is about 25-year-old, with about the same skin complexion as the assassin, has black hair parted to the side, he seems very alert and vigilant.
Immediately after the killing of Mr. Chea Vichea, I used my personal mobile phone to call for an ambulance to come and help him. Only a few minutes after the incident, the police authorities from the district, Khan, and city level as well as a larger number of other police authorities arrived at the incident place almost instantaneously. I then helped pick up the body of Mr. Chea Vichea and grabbed a copy of the Koh Santepheap newspaper to put underneath his head, and I took the mobile phone form the shirt pocket of the victim to call looking for his relatives to tell them about the incident occurring to him. Immediately, the police officers wrestled the phone away from my hand and told me: “Don’t be nosy,” at the same time, I heard the police officers telling each other that their superiors order them to take the body out of the incident area as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the police officers asked numerous questions on this killing. The body of Mr. Chea Vichea was searched by the police, examined by them for the injuries sustained, and they took out all the belongings of the dead person, after that they took his body to put in a police car under the protests from relatives of Mr. Chea Vichea, however, the latter could not have their say and the police drove the car out immediately. Mr. Chea Vichea was shot once in his head, once on his chest, and once on his left wrist. During the confusion, the police called me to provide clarifications at the Khan police station, however, I refused to go because I was afraid that they would kill me also, being the witness. After the police took away the body of Mr. Chea Vichea, the ambulance arrived. As for me, I had to affix the right hand thumbprint on the police report, [the police] did not read back to me the content in this report for me to hear.
I want to note that since the assassination took place in front of my newsstand, and believing that the assassination could involve senior government officials, I provided false information to the police officers such as the brand of the motorbike which I told them to be a dark purple Dream C100, and I also told them I could not remember too well the face of the killer. Furthermore, the police kept on questioning me on the shooting of Mr. Chea Vichea during the day of the incident, the district and Khan police came to my home to re-question me again. The next day, the same group of police officers came to my home to question me one more time, but I maintained the same answers as I provided them before, this time they showed me from their file a 4x6 picture of a man, as well as a sketch, they asked me if I recognize the person on the picture and the one on the sketch. If the face of the killer looks like any on these two pictures? I told them that I do not know [the person on the pictures] and I cannot remember. Later on, the police came to my home again, this time accompanied by a sketch expert. The sketcher asked me several questions on the description of the killer, I told him that I could not remember the face of the killer. The reason I did not provide the truth was because I believed that if I were to tell the truth, I would endanger my life and face death because they want to eliminate all proofs. Several days later, several newspapers issued sketches of the would-be-killer who resemble the picture the police showed me earlier, and it was said that the sketch of the killer was based on explanations provided by one witness. Because on the day Mr. Chea Vichea was shot, there was nobody else besides me and Mr. Chea Vichea, I decided to call Mr. Heng Pov using the number his police officers gave me after the day of the incident. I asked him why the newspapers published the sketch and said that it was provided by one witness because on the day of the incident, I was the only one who witnessed it. Mr. Heng Pov told me that the assassin had been arrested last night, and that I should remain silent and answer only according to what I was told and say that the two [who were arrested] are the killers of Mr. Chea Vichea. Later TV stations and newspapers publicly published the pictures of two men: Mr. Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang, and claimed that they are the killers of Mr. Chea Vichea. I believe that they (the police) are showing the fake killers because I remember very well the face of the killer, and he is not on the published pictures. I also note that after the arrest of Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang by the authority, the police never ask me anything else, but I observed that the police are always following my daily chores.
One month later, I saw the killer of Mr. Chea Vichea at my newsstand to buy a newspaper. He rode a black motorbike (Dog? brand), and he asked me what are the newspapers published today, as I turned to face the person who asked me the question, I was so surprised and I was very scared because he is the killer of Mr. Chea Vichea. He stared at me, then went back to his motorbike and took off without buying anything.
Regarding the various Phnom Penh municipal court summons asking me to show up to provide clarifications, I never went to the court at all because I believe that if I answer, I would be killed.
Furthermore, the trial of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is very unfair for them, and it cannot be accepted by any human being in the world living in a country calling itself a democracy and a country with a rule of law. Instead of the real killer, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Boeun were sentenced to 20-year jail term by the court.
Since the fake killers are sent to jail and the real killers go free, and justice can no longer be trusted, if I were to try to remain in Cambodia, I believe that I will face death, and I will not have the opportunity to tell the truth to the nation and the international community on the killing of Mr. Chea Vichea, as well as the arrest of innocent people instead of the real killer, with great regret, I decided to leave Cambodia and ask the UN for refuge in Thailand.
To conclude this declaration, I am calling the Cambodian government, all levels of authorities, in particular the justice system, as well as the United Nations and the International community to rethink this issue and provide justice according to the law. I am calling for the release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun so they can find freedom again because they are not the real killers.
I hope that this call will provide justice for the accused and for my country in the future.
Bangkok, 10 August 2006
Signed: Va Sothy
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