By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
A local human rights activist group, the Khmer Krom Human Rights Organization (KKHRO), and 5 representatives of the committee for the defense of human rights in Cambodia, met and discussed with court officials from the Kandal province yesterday morning, to push the court to revisit doubts on the murder of a Khmer Krom monk who was found dead recently. Their aim was to find a way to open the way for a proper investigation into this case.
An investigator with the Adhoc human rights group, one among the group of 4 other human rights activists, who went to meet and talk with court officials yesterday morning, said that human rights group demanded that Huot Vuthy, the prosecutor of the Kandal province, investigate on a number of points where doubts remain: “We demanded that (1) the prosecutor recognizes that doubts still exist regarding possible assassination; (2) we demanded him to investigate on a number of points which civil societies are raising doubts on. If we cannot count on the prosecutor to fulfill these investigations, then the entire case would be a complete failure.”
Huot Vuthy refused to provide any comment on how the court will decide. He claimed that he was too busy [to talk with a reporter].
On 27 February, the same date that several Khmer Krom monks have demonstrated in front of the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, to demand that Vietnam put an end to the oppression it was exerting on Khmer Krom monks, one Khmer Krom monk, monk Eang Sok Thoeun, who stayed at Tronom Chroeng pagoda, Boeng Thom commune, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, died under mysterious circumstances, and his body was buried in haste in the middle of the night.
Kandal police claimed that the monk death was caused by suicide, however human rights group and the opposition party denied the police claim because it was observed that the victim bore several suspicious marks which include stabbing and burns. Furthermore, the monk body was buried in secret.
Regarding the case of Khmer Krom monks [defrocked and jailed by the Vietnamese authority], on Wednesday, the Khmer Kampucha-Krom association sent a letter to Hor Namhong, the vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, asking him to intervene with the Vietnamese government to immediately end the arrest of 9 Khmer Krom monks, and to demand their release from the Khleang province (Soc Trang in Vietnamese) jail. The jailing of the 9 monks is a violation of their religious freedom.
An investigator with the Adhoc human rights group, one among the group of 4 other human rights activists, who went to meet and talk with court officials yesterday morning, said that human rights group demanded that Huot Vuthy, the prosecutor of the Kandal province, investigate on a number of points where doubts remain: “We demanded that (1) the prosecutor recognizes that doubts still exist regarding possible assassination; (2) we demanded him to investigate on a number of points which civil societies are raising doubts on. If we cannot count on the prosecutor to fulfill these investigations, then the entire case would be a complete failure.”
Huot Vuthy refused to provide any comment on how the court will decide. He claimed that he was too busy [to talk with a reporter].
On 27 February, the same date that several Khmer Krom monks have demonstrated in front of the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, to demand that Vietnam put an end to the oppression it was exerting on Khmer Krom monks, one Khmer Krom monk, monk Eang Sok Thoeun, who stayed at Tronom Chroeng pagoda, Boeng Thom commune, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, died under mysterious circumstances, and his body was buried in haste in the middle of the night.
Kandal police claimed that the monk death was caused by suicide, however human rights group and the opposition party denied the police claim because it was observed that the victim bore several suspicious marks which include stabbing and burns. Furthermore, the monk body was buried in secret.
Regarding the case of Khmer Krom monks [defrocked and jailed by the Vietnamese authority], on Wednesday, the Khmer Kampucha-Krom association sent a letter to Hor Namhong, the vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, asking him to intervene with the Vietnamese government to immediately end the arrest of 9 Khmer Krom monks, and to demand their release from the Khleang province (Soc Trang in Vietnamese) jail. The jailing of the 9 monks is a violation of their religious freedom.
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