Bomb defused at the "eyesore" Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship monument commemorating the Vietnamese invasion and more than one decade-long neo-colonial occupationBy Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 August 2008
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday sentenced five men between 15 and 17 years in prison for the attempted bombing of a monument in Phnom Penh in July 2007.
Kin Toeurn, 53, Sok Kim Sovat, 51, Soeng Khang, 42, Lim Phen, 32, and Soeng Vy, 31, were each fined 500,000 riel, about $125, in addition to their jail sentences, lawyers said.
Judge Suon Samnang, who presided over the case, said three men were sentenced to 14 years under the charge of terrorism and received an extra year and the fine for the illegal use of explosives. Two other men were sentenced to 16 years for conspiracy to commit terrorism, plus a year and a fine for illegal use of explosives.
The charges stem from a July 29, 2007, attempt to blow up the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument, which overlooks a park in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district. After one trigger explosion, police found three unexploded buckets of chemical fertilizer. No one was injured and no property was damaged.
The five men were apprehended within days of the event.
Four of the five belonged to the Khmer Kampuchea Krom ethnic group, lawyers said.
At least two of the men were beaten in police custody and forced to sign a confession, according to the lawyers, Khun Sovanrithy and Lueurn Sovann, who work for the Cambodian Defenders Project.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak denied the accusation.
"It is not surprising, because when they lose the case, they always accuse the police of doing that," he said. "But in general, we have never done like that."
Kin Toeurn, 53, Sok Kim Sovat, 51, Soeng Khang, 42, Lim Phen, 32, and Soeng Vy, 31, were each fined 500,000 riel, about $125, in addition to their jail sentences, lawyers said.
Judge Suon Samnang, who presided over the case, said three men were sentenced to 14 years under the charge of terrorism and received an extra year and the fine for the illegal use of explosives. Two other men were sentenced to 16 years for conspiracy to commit terrorism, plus a year and a fine for illegal use of explosives.
The charges stem from a July 29, 2007, attempt to blow up the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument, which overlooks a park in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district. After one trigger explosion, police found three unexploded buckets of chemical fertilizer. No one was injured and no property was damaged.
The five men were apprehended within days of the event.
Four of the five belonged to the Khmer Kampuchea Krom ethnic group, lawyers said.
At least two of the men were beaten in police custody and forced to sign a confession, according to the lawyers, Khun Sovanrithy and Lueurn Sovann, who work for the Cambodian Defenders Project.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak denied the accusation.
"It is not surprising, because when they lose the case, they always accuse the police of doing that," he said. "But in general, we have never done like that."
18 comments:
Fuck you Khieu Sopheak, and Fuck Vietnam till the last communist Vietnamese are dead and gone, this includes the CPP Vietnamese also.
To bad haven't succeeded blowing the dick shape monument.
Come on guy keep trying.
It's ok for Hun Sen to kill people in the 1997 attack. But it's not ok to blow up the Friendshit Monument. How sad.
kampuchea have the problem with
its identity.
kampuchea hate(jealous) all neighbour nations.
Why the CPP not building another monument for the infamous K5 Plan.
Wemust not forget the K5 Plan that started in 1982 and stopped only in late 1989 after the so called Vietnam troop withdrawal.
Many hundred thousands of people, included widows,lost their lives during the K5.
You already forget it?
9:05 AM
You sound like Vietminh robot.
9:05 AM
Absolutely we are jealous that you are communist and we are not.
Being a communist you don't have to worry too much about your identity right?
9:05,
Hey dumb wit! What's blowing up the pathetic statue got to do with identify? Read the fucking title.... idiot!
Although, I don't condone the act of terrorism.... I have to say that the stiff sentence that these men get is too excessive considered the lack of property damage and no human life is at loss. These crooked government hand out prison sentence without the considerations or knowledge of the effects that this may have on others love-one. I like to challenge the Cambodian government concerning the sentencing guideline for the Act of Terrorism. These so-call government make new rules as they go.
11:12 AM
Im glad that you brought this up. K-5 is a very serious crime commited by the Viet Cong the its Phnom Penh puppet. We need to bring these puppets and its viet boss to trial for terorizing innocent Khmer people.
Thank you for bringing this up.
These people are not criminals. They are khmer patriots who undertand Khmer suffering and willing to act upon their belief. These people should be rewarded with the highest Cambodia medals for patriotism and bravery! I think someone should set up a fund for their families to help ease out the financial burden.
Ah choy mray na tha tveu aoy khoch roub samnak ning, keu ah choy mray khuor yuon pinh bantuk. Ahaeng kom chang tuk roub ah yuon kantob nov knonh dey Khmae, ah choy mray, ah slab teang chumho, ah proat pras, ah roleay roub, ah rolut, ah kanh cheas dach thlay, dach sach leang ach aoy ah yuon mi yuon srokey yoeur, ah khmae tae roub tae chet kumnit ning khuor chea yuon. Ah teang os taing pi ah neayuok roat muntrey rohot dol ah khuor yuon thnak teab bamphot, puok ah ning rolut roleay pi dey Khmae min khan te.
Pi anh
those fucking Vietcong towers are in every province. We should take them all down, it makes the yuons in Cambodia proud of their genocide against Khmer.
Oh well! This is one mighty Vietcong-Hun Xen friendship monument and it is going to take sometime to make it falls and please don't give up when things don't work out for the first time! ahhahahhahah
By the way the Vietcong-Hun Xen friendship monuments are dotting Cambodian landscape and it has become a sore sight! It needs to be wiped out from Cambodia!
Since many of the new installation of the Vietcong border markers are done in secrecy in violation of Cambodian sovereignty and the Viet-Cambodian border issues remain to be solved and the fucken Vietcong-Hun Xen friendship monument mean nothing!
The REAL culprits have never been napped or apprehended; however, these innocent people were scapegoated (shortly after the incident) by the Hun Sen’s administration in an effort to placate their master (the Vietnamese).
Khmer farmer
Looks like 3:53PM is ah kantorb Ly Diep. Ah niss j'kourt meul ot chea mane.
This monument is a symbol of oppression and territorial encroachment of Cambodia and its people. It is a symbol of Ho Chi Minh's plan of Indochina federation, which means Cambodian is part of Vietnam. These men did the right thing to destroy that symbol. So instead of just talking about it, its help if anyone have any info about these men's family. I would like to donate some money to them because they did this for Cambodia.
We Khmer Kandal should be ashamed of ourselve for failing our brothers KKK. It has been nothing but insults upon injuries. One last Khmer King who did care was King Ung Duoung. The rest of the leadreships (except Lon Nol) were all a bunch of disgrace. If any of you in the current leadership positions think that the plight of the KKK is not your business, you better start taking counts of the cone hats coming "up" the river, and pray hard because you and every damn things you thing you owned will float down the river in the "opposite" direction before you know it!
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