By Bunry
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Anonymous
Phnom Penh: General Sok Phal, deputy commissioner general of the National Police Department [NPD], attended at a press conference held at the conference hall of the NPD headquarters on 9 January to show captured documents concerning the plot to place explosives in front of the Ministry of National Defense [MoND] and an area west of the Channel 3 TV station. During the conference pictures of the ringleaders behind the plot were shown to the local and international reporters following the arrest of four suspects. One remarkable point was that the suspects who were charged were not present at the conference
Gen. Sok Phal said that after discovering the explosives placed in front of the MoND and at the spot west of the Channel 3 TV station in the morning of 2 January, a special NPD unit following the tips from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng and under the direct leadership of the NPD Commissioner General proceeded to investigate and hunt for the culprits who placed the explosives at the two locations cited above. On 7 January the competent authorities found and arrested Som Ek, alias Srun Heng, alias Ti To, alias Chau Sakkda, alias Chea Kimhuon, alias Soeng Kamsan, alias Phat Vatthana, and alias Meng Saray, male, 46, native of Bet Thnu village, Prek Kak commune, Stoeng Trang district, Kampong Cham province, with current residence in Poipet commune, O Chreou district, Banteay Meanchey province.
This person was sent to the NPD the same night after the police searched and found in his possession some materials related to the methods of devising remote-controlled explosives.
During the press conference the police general revealed that Som Ek confessed his and his associates' major activities, confirming that:
(1) He ordered Sok Kimsovat and four other members to place three buckets of home-made explosives at the traffic light near the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument on 29 July 2007. At that time, one of the containers exploded by itself and two other were destroyed on the spot by a CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center] team. And at the end of July and the beginning of August 2007, the named Sok Kimsovat and four associates were arrested by the police. They are currently in jail at Prey Sar Prison;
(2) He was the one who ordered a three-man team to place the explosive devices in front of the MoND and west of the Channel 3 TV station on 2 December 2009 with the aim of causing the explosions to reverberate to other counties. This plan was discussed between himself and three associates in Aranyprathet, Thailand, before the explosives were placed at the two sites.
(3) He planned to set up an illegal armed movement in the form of a group of bandits in Mondolkiri and Kaoh Kong provinces and then take pictures of the group, which he would distribute in and outside the country in order to collect monetary contributions with which to carry on his activities.
The named Som Ek founded the so-called "Khmer National Liberation Front" with the sign of three tiger heads as symbol. As for the armed forces, they would be called "Khmer National Armed Forces."
The activities of this group mostly consisted of taking pictures for dissemination while some of its men would act as bandits, launching a few kidnapping and robbing sorties on the national highways.
Som Ek is a native of Prek Tanong commune, Kaoh Sotin district in Kampong Cham province. He was a soldier serving the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KP) at Ritthisen Camp and had been integrated by the MoND in 1993.
Som Ek spent a year and a half studying in the United States. He also attended courses in Malaysia, Thailand, and Burma. He learned technical tricks to produce explosives as weapons. Moreover, Som Ek also holds Thai nationality as he once was married to a Thai woman when he fled Cambodia. Som Ek's another offense was to counterfeit public documents of the MoND. He also has a Cambodian wife named Kim Lang, a 29-year-old vendor at Poipet market.
Gen. Sok Phal went on to say that the competent authorities now continue to seek to unmask and arrest more of Som Ek's associates. No details of this activity were made available to the reporters. At the direction of Prime Minister Hun Sen the specialized authorities must investigate this case in full.
General Sok Phal maintained that Som Ek is also an active member of the CFF [Cambodia Freedom Fights] and he has enjoyed backing in foreign countries.
Gen. Sok Phal said that after discovering the explosives placed in front of the MoND and at the spot west of the Channel 3 TV station in the morning of 2 January, a special NPD unit following the tips from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng and under the direct leadership of the NPD Commissioner General proceeded to investigate and hunt for the culprits who placed the explosives at the two locations cited above. On 7 January the competent authorities found and arrested Som Ek, alias Srun Heng, alias Ti To, alias Chau Sakkda, alias Chea Kimhuon, alias Soeng Kamsan, alias Phat Vatthana, and alias Meng Saray, male, 46, native of Bet Thnu village, Prek Kak commune, Stoeng Trang district, Kampong Cham province, with current residence in Poipet commune, O Chreou district, Banteay Meanchey province.
This person was sent to the NPD the same night after the police searched and found in his possession some materials related to the methods of devising remote-controlled explosives.
During the press conference the police general revealed that Som Ek confessed his and his associates' major activities, confirming that:
(1) He ordered Sok Kimsovat and four other members to place three buckets of home-made explosives at the traffic light near the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument on 29 July 2007. At that time, one of the containers exploded by itself and two other were destroyed on the spot by a CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center] team. And at the end of July and the beginning of August 2007, the named Sok Kimsovat and four associates were arrested by the police. They are currently in jail at Prey Sar Prison;
(2) He was the one who ordered a three-man team to place the explosive devices in front of the MoND and west of the Channel 3 TV station on 2 December 2009 with the aim of causing the explosions to reverberate to other counties. This plan was discussed between himself and three associates in Aranyprathet, Thailand, before the explosives were placed at the two sites.
(3) He planned to set up an illegal armed movement in the form of a group of bandits in Mondolkiri and Kaoh Kong provinces and then take pictures of the group, which he would distribute in and outside the country in order to collect monetary contributions with which to carry on his activities.
The named Som Ek founded the so-called "Khmer National Liberation Front" with the sign of three tiger heads as symbol. As for the armed forces, they would be called "Khmer National Armed Forces."
The activities of this group mostly consisted of taking pictures for dissemination while some of its men would act as bandits, launching a few kidnapping and robbing sorties on the national highways.
Som Ek is a native of Prek Tanong commune, Kaoh Sotin district in Kampong Cham province. He was a soldier serving the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KP) at Ritthisen Camp and had been integrated by the MoND in 1993.
Som Ek spent a year and a half studying in the United States. He also attended courses in Malaysia, Thailand, and Burma. He learned technical tricks to produce explosives as weapons. Moreover, Som Ek also holds Thai nationality as he once was married to a Thai woman when he fled Cambodia. Som Ek's another offense was to counterfeit public documents of the MoND. He also has a Cambodian wife named Kim Lang, a 29-year-old vendor at Poipet market.
Gen. Sok Phal went on to say that the competent authorities now continue to seek to unmask and arrest more of Som Ek's associates. No details of this activity were made available to the reporters. At the direction of Prime Minister Hun Sen the specialized authorities must investigate this case in full.
General Sok Phal maintained that Som Ek is also an active member of the CFF [Cambodia Freedom Fights] and he has enjoyed backing in foreign countries.
