The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Authorities have arrested a third former Khmer Rouge soldier for his alleged role in the killing of a British mine clearance expert and his Cambodian interpreter 11 years ago, officials said Thursday.
The arrest of Cheap Chet, 33, came after two other ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers were detained Tuesday in connection with the 1996 killing of Briton Christopher Howes and his interpreter Huon Huot.
All three were charged with premeditated murder, said Ke Sakhan, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The two other soldiers — Khem Ngun and Loch Mao — were also charged with illegal confinement, which carries a 10-year sentence.
Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. Loch Mao became a local government official after leaving the Khmer Rouge, which collapsed in 1998.
Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of his Cambodian co-workers were abducted in March 1996 by Khmer Rouge guerrillas while clearing mines in an isolated area about 17 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Angkor Wat temple, the country's most popular tourist destination.
Howes, who was 37 at the time, persuaded the guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and Huon Huot remained hostages for ransom.
Their fate was unknown until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said about two years later that they had firm evidence the two had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.
Witnesses said Khem Ngun had given the order to kill Howes.
However, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.
Reacting to the news of the arrests Wednesday, Howes' 80-year-old father, Roy Howes, said he was pleased, not only for himself and the interpreter's family, but also "for the people of Cambodia."
"These people have wrecked my family," he told The Associated Press from his home in Backwell, England. "We have never, ever recovered from this. The pain is permanently with us."
The arrest of Cheap Chet, 33, came after two other ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers were detained Tuesday in connection with the 1996 killing of Briton Christopher Howes and his interpreter Huon Huot.
All three were charged with premeditated murder, said Ke Sakhan, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The two other soldiers — Khem Ngun and Loch Mao — were also charged with illegal confinement, which carries a 10-year sentence.
Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. Loch Mao became a local government official after leaving the Khmer Rouge, which collapsed in 1998.
Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of his Cambodian co-workers were abducted in March 1996 by Khmer Rouge guerrillas while clearing mines in an isolated area about 17 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Angkor Wat temple, the country's most popular tourist destination.
Howes, who was 37 at the time, persuaded the guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and Huon Huot remained hostages for ransom.
Their fate was unknown until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said about two years later that they had firm evidence the two had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.
Witnesses said Khem Ngun had given the order to kill Howes.
However, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.
Reacting to the news of the arrests Wednesday, Howes' 80-year-old father, Roy Howes, said he was pleased, not only for himself and the interpreter's family, but also "for the people of Cambodia."
"These people have wrecked my family," he told The Associated Press from his home in Backwell, England. "We have never, ever recovered from this. The pain is permanently with us."
3 comments:
Damn, our prison is already like can of sardines. I hope the UK can put them is the UK prison for crime against the UK citizen. That will help us a great deal of not having to feed too many prisoners.
Ah chamkuot cpp 2:06 nih niyeay kmean deng ei te. cpp
Eign cheung neung, kgnom neayay kough eiy dair, lauk Kru (7:14)?
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