Police say no investigation into DJ Ano 'disappearance'

DJ Ano poses for the camera in a photograph timestamped on November 10. (Photo by: HIM VICHET)

Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Written by Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Local magazine claims the popular TV presenter returned to Cambodia last week unharmed despite reported razor attack

POLICE have no plans to investigate the alleged attack on popular television presenter DJ Ano and her subsequent disappearance from public view since no complaint has been filed in the case, senior police officials told the Post.

"How can we investigate it?" said Interior Ministry Penal Police Chief Mok Chito, adding that neither Ano, whose real name is Suon Pheakdei, nor her family have lodged a formal complaint.

Rumours have been swirling that Ano was attacked with razor blades by the wife of a high-ranking official and that, fearing for her life and in desperate need of medical treatment, she fled to Vietnam.

But the Khmer-language newspaper Rasmey Kampuchea reported Monday that the starlet has denied ever being attacked and would file a lawsuit against anyone claiming that she was the victim of an assault.

Seng Sitheang, the publisher of Angkor Thom magazine, said that his colleague met with Ano last week and that he took 85 photos of her that showed no evidence of an attack.

Him Vichet, a reporter at Angkor Thom magazine, said Ano returned to Cambodia on November 9 without any visible injuries and that he interviewed her the following day.

"I looked at her, and her face and body are still the same. There were no scars on her. Her face is still nice," Him Vichet said.

Ano told Him Vichet that she did not go to Vietnam, but instead went on a three-country tour, he said.

Ano's employer, TV3 Director General Kham Poun Keomony, called her case "her own personal story" and did not know details of her disappearance.

He said, however, that he had heard that Ano was healthy.

"I do not know her whereabouts, but I have heard that she is well. If she is well, we will welcome her back at TV3," Kham Poun Keomony said.

DJ Ano is the fifth attack victim of a love triangle jealousy

15th November, 2008
By Kim Pov Sotton Radio free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Actress DJ Ano (pictured) is the fifth victim of a jealousy attack because of a love triangle with the husband of a powerful lady.

Actress Suon Pheakdei or DJ Ano was reportedly named as missing in the past few days by a human right organisation Adhoc after razor blade attacks on her a few days earlier.

Mr. Chan Saveth, investigator for Adhoc, said that DJ Ano resides at two addresses in Phnom Penh but, after the attack, all members of her family had fled the addresses due fears for their safety.

He blamed the authority for whitewashing these kinds of crimes which led to continuous attacks that killed many people. He said: “We knew that she had disappeared for more than three weeks and these sorts of crimes cannot be allowed to go unpunished. The police must investigate this case thoroughly because it is a criminal case. If the police refuse to investigate, it will have an impact on the implementation of our laws.”

Media sources and internet bloggers, since Monday, have written that 27 year-old Suon Pheakdei or DJ Ano, a presenter of TV3, has been attacked with 83 razor blade cuts to her body. The same sources said that DJ Ano was seen bundled into a car by 4 bodyguards of a powerful woman at Chamkar Morn district because the lady accused DJ Ano of having an affair with her husband.

Despite this report, the chief of Chamkar Morn police, Inspector Ouch Sokhon, denied that his police knew anything about this kidnap.

Officials from TV3 station and many actors and actresses are now afraid to make any comments. Up until now, news about miss Ano’s case is still not very clear.

Touch Naroth, Commissioner of Phnom Penh Police, said that he will launch an unofficial investigation into the disappearance of Miss DJ Ano after the rumours circulating that Miss DJ Ano died from the razor blade wounds. He promised to arrest the culprits if the story is true.

Mr. Touch Naroth said: “It is not that we didn’t do anything or we ignore the case. We want to see our society become a clean society, free of crimes. We had tried our best, but crimes are committed in every societies, so we will try to investigate. We never ignore any cases but we need all the evidences before we can investigate because in this case we don’t have any complaints, we don’t have any evidences, we don’t have a crime scene. So we will launch an unofficial investigation first to see where it will lead us to because we also heard about all these rumours too.”

Mr. Ieng Sithuol, President of Cambodian Artists Association, said that he heard about the attacks on Miss Ano and he heard about the rumours that she had died after she was sent to be treated overseas.

Mr. Ieng Sithuol said: “I regret the irresponsible actions of some individuals. The use of violence on each other, especially on artists, for me, I don’t support it. We appeal to the government to find justice for all artists, in all the cases.”

Sources from human right groups said that Miss DJ Ano is the fifth person attacked in a love triangle, after actress Pisith Pilika was shot dead, singer Touch Sunnich was shot and maimed, actress Tat Marina was laced with acid and singer Pov Panhapich was shot last year which mad her a disabled person until today.

President of the Centre for Women in Crisis, Miss Vadhi Say, said that often many cases of attacks on women in a love triangle with powerful government officials have never been solved. She said that, the men who are involved in a love triangle can be considered as co-conspirators of the crimes as well.

She appeals for the perpetrators to face the laws, otherwise the crimes of these sorts will continue to be perpetrated. She said: “First, laws must be applied. The women who committed these crimes must be punished by the laws. Second, the authority must take actions so that these sorts of crimes can be stopped. If not, these sorts of crimes will continue. Their husbands are the ones who are adulterous but they go around killing other people. It doesn’t matter how many women they have killed, if their husbands are adulterous they will still be adulterous. They have to take some actions to resolved their family problems or they can discuss the matter with their own husbands. Why do they have to do like that? Sometimes, our family problems we must try to solve them. If our husbands are like that, who cannot be satisfied with one partners, why do we have to put up with them? This is called domestic violence and if we stay, it is like we are torturing ourselves.”

Up until now, no perpetrators of these sorts of crimes have been apprehended and punished. Commissioner of Phnom Penh Police claimed that the police have not found the perpetrators yet and that the investigations are still continuing.//

DJ Ano survived the rasor blade attack, but her whereabout is unknown right now

Cambodian TV star DJ Ano

Cambodian TV star saved in Vietnam

13/11/2008

VietNamNet Bridge – The French-Vietnamese (FV) Hospital on Wednesday confirmed that Cambodian television star DJ Ano had been saved and left the hospital.

DJ Ano or Suon Pheakdei, 26, is the host of channel TV3, Phnom Penh TV. She is a famous TV host, actress and model in Cambodia.

Ano was the victim of a brutal jealousy case which has stirred up the Cambodian public the past two weeks.

According to some Cambodian newspapers, DJ Ano’s entire body was lacerated by tens of dozens of cuts from razor blades and she lost a lot of blood. The hit-men had been hired by the wife of a senior police officer.

The FV Hospital said that DJ Ano had been hospitalised in very serious condition but the hospital refused to provide further information.

DJ Ano was taken to Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh for first aid but she was flown to Vietnam subsequently. At first, doctors said her survival was doubtful.

After one week of treatment at FV Hospital, DJ Ano recovered and left the hospital. With the injuries to her body, it has been said DJ Ano will be unable to continue her career on TV.

DJ Ano’s going to and leaving the FV hospital was kept secret. According to Cambodian newspapers, the information released by the hospital was the first accurate information about DJ Ano. Even TV3 channel hadn’t had any information about their staff in nearly three weeks.

Nobody knows whether DJ Ano has returned to Cambodia or not.

DJ Ano is the second entertainment star in Cambodia to be treated at a Vietnamese hospital. In February 2007, Cambodia’s number-one pop star Pov Panhapic was saved by doctors at HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital after she was shot, also in a jealousy case. She is now living in Vietnam.

(Source: PLTPHCM)

Rumor mills: DJ Ano died and her body is not repatriated back to Cambodia

Rumors spread about DJ Ano’s death

Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Phnom Penh – Up until now, nobody seems to know yet about how DJ Ano is doing, in spite of the fact that it was learnt that an angry wife of high ranking government official used razor blades to attack her on the face and all over her bodies. At the end of last week, a new rumor was spreading indicating that DJ Ano died in a hospital in Vietnam, and that her body was not repatriated back to Cambodia.

Upon learning this news, Koh Santepheap went all over the places to find out about the truth because, in spite of the fact that DJ Ano was merely a TV presenter and a not too famous actress yet, her mysterious disappearance or death in a democratic society in not ordinary.

Chheang Buntha, the deputy information director for TV3 station, said that up to now, information about the disappearance of DJ Ano from TV3 programs still remain unclear, and he did not pay attention about the whereabout of DJ Ano at all because she was not a TV3 station employee, she was merely a buyer of TV3 air time. Furthermore, regarding the rumor about DJ Ano’s death, Chheang Buntha said that he heard about it also, but that he couldn’t find any sure source that can backup this claim.

Chau Sreng, the deputy president of TV3 station, said that after he received the information about DJ Ano’s incident, he sent someone to find out the truth at DJ Ano’s home, but that he couldn’t find anything about her because she no longer lives in the house she used to rent, and no one seems to know where she moved out to. Regarding her relatives, no one knows who they are, and who were closed to her, but Chau Sreng said that DJ Ano liked to hide her personal life, even her home and her parents, DJ Ano never talked about them to co-workers and friends.

Khen Vannthat, a presenter and artist for TV3 station, told Koh Santepheap on Saturday 08 November that when he went to watch the movie “Chhub Thort Konn Khmoch” (Stop filming ghost movies) at the Soriya Theater, he heard from another artist who told him that Ano died in a hospital in Vietnam. Since then this rumors started to spread out. Khen Vannthat added that this is DJ Ano’s personal life and it was a shameful case, therefore all information will be kept hidden.

Ms. Molina, a co-presenter with DJ Ano, said that she heard the news about DJ Ano being attacked by razor blades and that her condition was serious, and she was sent to Vietnam. Recently, some artists told her that Ano died, but they do not know if this is true or not. Molina added that DJ Ano’s life seems to be very mysterious, and even to those who are closed to her, Ano wouldn’t even tell them where she lived, nor does she say anything about her parents and siblings. She hid all this information, and no one knows why she hid all these personal information. After Molina heard about DJ Ano’s accident, and after her disappearance from TV3 station, Molina tried to find where DJ Ano was, but she couldn’t find anything.

Nevertheless, numerous reporters and artists received the information that DJ Ano died lately at a hospital in South Vietnam, but no one seems to know the name of that hospital.

News analysts said that information about DJ Ano involves a serious crime, and it should not be hidden or swept away, the police should open an investigation into this case, and it should not allow rumors to spread with uncertain basis like this. Furthermore, nobody can believe the fact that DJ Ano, who was a known TV3 station presenter and who had a fixed employment at TV3, can hide her personal life, her parents, her siblings and the address of her home, because, at least, she had to provide to the TV3 station management her biography before she was accepted to work there. However, the claims made by the station managers and her coworkers that they do not know anything about her brings more mystery to the case than if they were to provide the information they know about her. The case will remain suspicious.

Hok Lundy: The Death of a Murderer

Opinion by Khmerization
11th November, 2008

“Hok Lundy’s death is a gain for the humanity because his death means that Cambodian has rid one of the worst human right abusers Cambodia has ever had.”

In Buddhism, karma has been described as a fate or destiny which was determined by one’s own actions. In the Buddhist philosophy, karma is the quality of somebody's current and future lives as determined by that person's behaviour in this and in previous lives. In short, if you do good things, good things will happen to you. But if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you.

If one believes in the Buddhist philosophy of karma, then the recently death of Gen. Hok Lundy, Cambodia’s notorious police commissioner, has been attributed to his own bad karmic practices. And judging from the reactions of my fellow bloggers to the death of Gen. Hok Lundy, I wonder if his death has anything to do with his karma.

Gen. Hok Lundy, during his 14 years tenure as Cambodia’s police commissioner, has committed numerous gross human right violations. His ruthless approaches to his critics and opponents have seen many of them brutally killed and tortured.

He has ordered or personally carried out many politically-motivated and extra-judicial killings against his opponents. As recently as last July, he has been reportedly named by the respected South China Morning Post as having some, either directly or indirectly, involvements with the murders of journalist Khim Sambo and his son because Khim Sambo has written an article critical of his gambling addiction at Bavet Casino, the place where his helicopter crashed that killed him last Sunday. In 1997, a few days after the July’s coup d’etat, Gen. Ho Sok, a secretary of state of the Ministry of Interior from the Funcinpec Party, who was supposedly Hok Lundy’s boss, was personally executed by Hok Lundy himself inside the Ministry of Interior’s building.

Gen. Hok Lundy has been linked to many other high profile murders as well. The murder of Piseth Pilika, an actress who had a secret love affairs with Prime Minister Hun Sen and the attempted murder on Touch Sounnik, a famous singer who was rumoured to be romantically linked with a high-ranking government official, were somewhat linked to Gen. Hok Lundy. Other politically-motivated murders include the grenade attacks in front of the National Assembly on 30th March, 1997 in which 19 peaceful protesters were killed and 190 others were wounded, the murders in 2003 of Chea Vichea, a union leader and the murder in 2003 of Om Radsady, a prominent politician, are all linked to Gen. Hok Lundy.

But the recent attempted murder on Miss Suon Pheadkei, called DJ Ano, a TV presenter and an actress who was rumoured to have had a love affair with Gen. Hok Lundy, should shock everyone. Miss Suon Pheakdei had disappeared a few weeks ago and according to witnesses, she was last seen bundled into a car by 3-4 men. She was later found with head shaved and her body, breast and private parts riddled with 80 razor blade cuts. She was treated in a Vietnamese hospital and is not expected to live.

The person who ordered the kidnapping and mutilations of Miss Suon Pheakdei’s body is rumoured to be Gen. Hok Lundy’s wife. After the news of Gen. Hok Lundy’s death, I received an email from a respected lawyer and in reactions to Lundy’s death he said: “Justice may be slow in catching up on this criminal, but karma isn't. We hope his wife, who is holding DJ Anoy’s hostage in a Vietnamese hospital, will face justice.”

When asked to confirm how credible his information is, he said: “I can't confirm; the info was relayed to me by a friend who works in the film/karaoke industry in phnompnh.”

The death of someone should not be celebrated. Instead, it should be mourned. But, when it comes to the death of Gen. Hok Lundy, one of the ruthless killers of Cambodia, the news of his death, if not celebrated, should be enthusiastically welcomed. Personally, his death means the passing of one of Cambodia’s worst human right abusers. But in respect to the spirit of the death, I offer my sympathy to the bereaved family, his wife being the exception considering what she had done to Miss Suon Pheakdei.

And from the point of view of the human right advocates, Hok Lundy’s death is a gain for the humanity because his death means that Cambodia has rid one of the worst human right abusers Cambodia has ever had.

After reading different reports and claims from different sources, one wonders if Gen. Hok Lundy’s death was accidental or it was an assassination. Some people claimed that some witnesses told them that there is a group of people who shot down the helicopter with a rocket launcher before it landed at a helipad at Bavet town. Other witnesses claimed that they saw a fire at the tail of the helicopter before it went down. Other said that the tail of the helicopter appeared to have been hit by something.

So, was the helicopter crash an accident or was it hit by a rocket launcher? If it was hit by a rocket launcher, could it be the work of someone who wanted to get rid of Hok Lundy? Here is what I have received in my email from the same respected lawyer in which he said: “hun Sen also happy to see him dead as he is a thorn in HS's good eye. Lundi also held HS (Hun Sen) hostage for a lot of awful things.”

In summing up this editorial, Hok Lundy’s death is a loss, not a loss to the humanity but a loss of one of Cambodia’s murderous top cop. His passing should be a cause for celebration. But one should be worried about his replacement, Lt-Gen. Neth Savoeun. Gen. Neth Savoeun, a nephew-in-law of Prime Minister Hun Sen, is no angel either. He has a reputation of being a ruthless and another serious human right abuser, if not on par with Gen. Hok Lundy, his notoriety is no better either. This is another case of one murderer being replaced by another murderer.//

Rumor mills: Little hope for DJ Ano to survive from the razor blades attack

07 Nov 2008
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Even though sources from the Cambodian police and from the court claimed that there is no information and no complaint about the razor blade torture perpetrated on TV presenter DJ Ano, several artists confirmed that “violence on DJ Ano did occur and she is currently in serious condition.”

Information about the razor blade attack on the entire body of DJ Ano was reported by the Sophorn and Procheaprey (Popular) magazines.

DJ Ano, whose birth name is Suon Pheakdei, is a well known presenter of TV3 station in Phnom Penh. She is not a very young star anymore, as she is now 27-year-old.

In its 16th edition published for the period of 02-15 November 2008, the Sophorn magazine reported that the wife of a high ranking official kidnapped her, had her head shaved and her face cut with razor blades because this wife was angry that DJ Ano had an affair with her husband. The magazine claimed that DJ Ano was sent to Vietnam and that there is little hope that she will survive the attack. The report did not provide details about where and when the almost fatal assault took place.

Chuon Narin, chief of the serious crimes in Phnom Penh, told Rasmei Kampuchea in the afternoon of 06 November that: “I heard this information also. My force went to do research on it, but there is no sure source that could confirm it up to now, and there is no complaint brought up about this case either.”

General Touch Naroth, Phnom Penh police commissioner, made the same statement also, and the Phnom Penh court claimed that there was no complaint about DJ Ano’s case.

Nevertheless, some artists claimed that DJ Ano who was attacked by razor blades has only about 20% chance of survival because she lost too much blood from the attack. However, these sources asked to remain anonymous.

Special artists from TV3 channel claimed that the attack on DJ Ano was perpetrated by the wife of high ranking official who ordered 3-4 of her bodyguards to kidnap DJ Ano and threw her in a car. At first, the bodyguards used razor blades to shave DJ Ano hair, they then proceeded to cut her face with the blades also. Later on, they cut her entire body from top to bottom with razor blades and even her genital part was not spared. The source added that DJ Ano was very seriously injured and her family rushed her out of the country for medical care.

All the sources consulted by Rasmei Kampuchea claimed that the razor attack on DJ Ano is 100% true, and some even gave the name of the country where DJ Ano was sent to for medical care. According to one group of sources, she would be sent to Malaysia, while a second group claimed that she was sent to Vietnam instead. It appears that information from the second group is more accurate because Rasmei Kampuchea received the news on 06 November that she was sent to Vietnam.

The source consulted by Rasmei Kampuchea indicated that, as of now, there is only 20% chance that DJ Ano will survive because she lost too much blood during the attack.

DJ Ano was born as Suon Pheakei, she used to have a love relationship with a Filipino man and a Thai man. After her breakup from her Filipino boyfriend, she was asked for marriage by a Cambodian expat living in the US. Following her breakup with her fiancé from the US, DJ Ano received a warning from a woman telling her to be careful because she may be splashed with acid. The Sophorn magazine claimed that prior to her liaison with the high ranking government official, she was linked to the owner of massage parlor.

DJ Ano did not have any relatives in Phnom Penh, and her house is Phnom Penh is unknown. But, a number of sources indicated that she had an adopted elder sister, and that this sister would be an important witness in this attack case.

Up to now, TV3 does not the whereabout of DJ Ano. Kong Socheat from TV3 claimed that DJ Ano did not come to the station for the past 2-3 weeks.

Liaison with a married man is believed to be the source of this violent attack case.

Attack on DJ Ano destroys Khmer Identity: Reader

Suon Pheakdei aka DJ Ano

Unofficial English translation by Heng Soy

Friday, November 07, 2008

Dear Editor,

I would like to provide my opinion in the assault case against DJ Ano!

It is true that all human beings are hurt when their loved-one is being taken away from them. However, the savage violence which took place and that was used to resolve this case brings shame to Cambodia honor: not only was Khmer pride being destroyed by this act, but also Buddhist Ahimsa (non-violence) has been cheapened shamelessly.

I am begging all our compatriots to resolve their disputes peacefully in order to preserve the honor of Cambodia which used to be a famous empire in Asia.

Thank you,

Ana Nov