Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Woman shot dead by military police during resin bust

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Cambodian Press Review

Military police working for an environmental group shot dead a young woman suspected of smuggling M’reah Prov oil in Pursat province on March 4, though there are conflicting accounts as to how she died, newspapers report.

According to witnesses, at around 11pm in a forest in Pursat province’s Kravanh district, police officials working for the environmental group Conservation International (CI) surrounded a car suspected of being engaged in M’reah Prov trafficking. Seeing the police activity, Pich Srey Mom was opening the door when she was shot in the right temple, while her husband, Bun Vannak, was handcuffed, reports Kampuchea Thmey.

Deputy Provincial Military Police Chief Var Vuthy said that an officer accidentally shot the 27-year-old woman as the two were trying to escape, according to The Cambodia Daily.

M’reah Prov oil is a resin illegally tapped from trees in Cambodia ’s densely forested northwestern region; it produces safrole, which can be used as a precursor chemical in the manufacture of MDMA, a key ingredient of ecstasy. The tree, from which the stump and roots are boiled to extract oil, is in serious danger of vanishing from Cambodia due to the illicit trade, note archives.

Provincial Police Chief Hem Vuthea claims that when Pich Srey Mom attempted to stop the military police from beating her husband, and that one of them shot her in the head with his AK-47 rifle, reports The Cambodia Daily.

While Ouk Kimsan, Central Cardamom Protected Forest program manager for the Forestry Administration, said that the military police had received a tip-off that two cars were smuggling the oil in the area. At 11pm the cars attempted to break through a line of ranger motorbikes and so were fired upon, as one of the speeding cars knocked an officer of his bike he accidentally fired a shot, which killed Pich Srey Mom, he said.

According to an unnamed source, the man who shot the woman is named King Chamroeun, and has now fled. He added that during the operation, the CI group consisted of eight members, and that the military police beat the victim’s husband severely on his arrest. According to witnesses, the CI officers fired at least forty rounds at the cars, but after the incident only six shells were found, reports Rasmei Kampuchea.

The woman’s relatives have called on the authorities to arrest the man responsible for the shooting, while Pursat residents and many NGOs have condemned the government and in particular CI over the incident, writes Kampuchea Thmey.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What the Fuck???!!! A fucking police for a consevation group....

Anonymous said...

This fucking idiot police knows how to shoot only his own people but is scared to death of Yuons. That's why in 100 years, Cambodians will be no more in this planet.

Anonymous said...

that's OK, rest in peace!