Terrorism charges in bomb plot

Houn Raksa, daughter of bomb plot suspect Phy Savong, begs for the release of her father at the front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Monday night. Phy Savong and three other suspects were charged with two offences under Cambodia's anti-terrorism law and face up to 30 years in prison. (Photo by: Sovann Philong)

Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Thomas Gam Nielsen
The Phnom Penh Post

Former police official, SRP member among accused.

FOUR people, including a former provincial deputy police chief and an opposition party defector, were charged Monday under Cambodia's anti-terrorism law over an alleged bomb plot targeting the Defence Ministry and the state-run television station,TV3, officials say.

According to Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor Hing Bunchea, the four face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on charges of delivering, placing, discharging or detonating an explosive or lethal device in a public place, and recruiting and training terrorists.

The charges stem from three small bombs discovered January 2 outside the Defence Ministry and TV3.

Included among the accused are Reach Samnang, Mondulkiri province's former deputy police chief, and Lek Bunnhean, a one-time Sam Rainsy Party member who defected to the ruling Cambodian People's Party and last year publicly accused opposition leader Sam Rainsy of involvement in the 1998 rocket attack allegedly targeting Prime Minister Hun Sen in Siem Reap.

Two former resistance fighters, Phy Savong and Som Ek, the alleged plot mastermind, also stand accused.

Investigating judge Ker Sokhorn said the case merited further scrutiny after 10 hours of interviews Monday.

His comments came a day after police said that Som Ek confessed to organising both the most recent bombing attempt and an earlier plot to blow up the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument in July 2007.

Two UN monitors at the court Monday were barred from the interviews, as were monitors from Cambodian rights groups Licadho and Adhoc.

Phy Savong's wife, Prum Thavy, said that her husband was seized at his home in Kandal province's Kien Svay district Thursday without explanation.

"It is a huge injustice. Police ... took him away in a car without explaining why or showing a warrant," she said outside court.

Four Cambodian men charged in failed bomb plots

Mon, 12 Jan 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh-Cambodian police charged four men with attempted murder and terrorism Monday in failed bomb plots against the Ministry of Defence and state-owned television in the capital early this month. The four men were arrested last week for allegedly planning the foiled January 2 attack, in which two small TNT bombs were laid outside the ministry and the TV3 headquarters in central Phnom Penh.

All four men appeared in court and were also charged with crimes relating to the illegal recruitment of armed people.

Prosecutors argued the men were members of small rebel group, which they said had links to other militant organizations and planned the attacks to destabilize the government and attract international attention.

Police said last week that the apparent leader of the group, Som Ek, had also confessed to ordering a thwarted bomb attempt at the Cambodian-Vietnamese friendship monument on one of Phnom Penh's main boulevards in July 2007.

Police also alleged Som Ek, also known as Ti To, had told them his group received funding from international supporters.

Som Ek is a dual Thai-Cambodian citizen and was a military policeman during the early 1990s, police said.