Cambodian Center for Human Rights - Human Rights Defender Alert

Confusions reigns in Chut Wutty case as company security guard is charged with two counts of manslaughter

• Date: 4 May 2012
• Name: Chut Wutty
• Category of activist: Environmental activist, Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group
• Location: Koh Kong

According to Khmer language media outlet Daum Ampil Rann Boroth, a 31 year old reported tobe a security guard with Timbergreen, a company involved in logging in Koh Kong province, has been charged with the killings of environmental activist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Ratana. Chut Wutty and In Ratana were shot dead on 26th April in an incident after the car Chut Wutty was travelling in with two journalists was stopped in Koh Kong province while gathering evidence of illegal logging.

A great deal of uncertainty surrounds the deaths of the two men and the response of the authorities. On 27th April, the military police issued a report which stated that Wutty had been killed by In Ratana who subsequently turned his weapon, an AK-47, on himself, committing suicide by shooting himself twice in the chest. This explanation was roundly dismissed by human rights groups. On the same day, Kheng Tito, a military police spokesman, stated that the case would be closed and that further investigation was unlikely as the perpetrator had died.

Yesterday,The Phnom Penh Post reported that Rann Baroth had been detained as a suspect in the case (‘Timbergreen official questioned in Chut Wutty Shooting’). Daum Ampil reports that Rann Boroth has been charged with two counts of manslaughter under Article 207 of the Penal Code. Manslaughter in Cambodian law is a misdemeanour punishable by between one and three years imprisonment and a fine of between two and six million Riels ($500 - $1,250 USD).

For more information,please contact: Ou Virak, CCHR President,telephone: +855 12 40 40 51; email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org; or Suon Bunthoeun, CCHR Human Rights Defenders Project Coordinator, email: bunthoeun@cchrcambodia.org

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The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org.