“Who Killed Chea Vichea?” screened at CITA headquarters with reporters attending the show

Screening of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" at CITA's headquarter

18 Nov. 2010
By S. Botum
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The film “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” which was prevented from being screened at the Democrazy Park (Freedom Park) in the evening of Wednesday, was instead safely shown in the morning of 18 Nov. at the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) headquarters. About 40 reporters were present during the showing of the one-hour film.

The film presents the events following the shooting and killing of Chea Vichea whose body can be seen lying in a pool of blood next to a newspaper kiosk near Wat Langka Pagoda, as well as the ensuing struggle to determine who would collect Chea Vichea’s body: a group consisting of the opposition party and Chea Vichea’s relatives versus the Phnom Penh cops under the order of Heng Pov, the Phnom Penh police commissioner.

The film also provides some clues that led to the killing of Chea Vichea which include Heng Pov, Ly Rasy, Hun Song, the former Tuol Kok police commissioner, Hok Lundy, as well as other people who were involved in this case. An important witness known to belong to the group of culprits involved in various killings in Phnom Penh had his blurried image shown in the film. According to this man, Hok Lundy and Heng Pov organized the assassination plan that was not only aimed at Chea Vichea alone, but that would include political figures, reporters, as well as Buddhist monks. The man claimed that Hok Luundy summoned Heng Pov to tell him about the shooting plan, he then proceeded to order young men to carry gun and the picture of the victim who must be assassinated.

The successive portions of the film also show the body of Ven. Sam Bun Thoeun [a Khmer Krom monk] and Mr. Chuor Chetharith, a reporter at the Ta Prom radio station who was killed by assassins next to a white car parked next the radio station fence. The film wanted to show that these killings were not accidental, but that they were planned and carried out by government cops.

Chea Vichea’s wife, who was filmed in Finland, said that up to now, her daughter kept on asking her: “My father was gentle, my father was good, why did they kill him?”