Monday, May 10, 2010

Suth Dina's hit-and-run and his subsequent release by police attest to the lawlessness and impunity under Hun Xen's regime

Suth Dina (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)
Suth Dina's dented Lexus following his arrest after his attempt to flee the accident scene (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

Suth Dina’s hit-and-run attempt but was arrested 3 km from the accident location
Who is Suth Dina?
Suth Dina, one of the so-called chameleon politician, was successively: a former anti-government student activist, a former anti-Vietnamese activist and a former spokesman for the defunct Norodom Ranaridhh Party, before he defected to the Vietnamese-installed Cambodian People's Party after the 2008 election. He now serves as Undersecretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs - With partial information provided at Khmerization
09 May 2010
By Koh Ekareach
Koh Santepheap

Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Battambang province – During an accident that was caused by a car belonging to one of the government Excellencies, there was strong reaction from the victim’s family against the Thmor Kol district cops who released the car and the driver without informing the victim’s family first, in spite of the injury sustained by the victim and the hit-and-run attempt made by the Excellency who drove the car. In fact, the Excellency was arrested earlier by a cop barrage when he sped off with a flat tire Lexus.

The accident took place at the round-about in the middle of Thmor Kol city, along National Road No. 5, at 5PM on 08 May. A police source indicated that the car causing the accident was a gray color Lexus SUV, bearing the license plate 2L1998, driven by a man named Suth Dina. The SUV was traveling from Banteay Meanchey province to Phnom Penh, and the victim’s name is Pech Leang Hot, an 18-year-old student living in Poy Yang village, Ta Poung commune, Thmor Kol district.

The victim was driving his Viva motorcycle from his home to attend an English language class when he was hit from the front by the SUV moving in the opposite direction. Witnesses to the accident said that Suth Dina’s SUV steered and hit the victim on its right. The SUV had a flat tire and it sped off to run away, but several motodoops (motorbike-taxis) chased it until it was stopped by a police barrage at Poy Yang village, Ta Poung commune. The witnesses said that a few hours after the SUV driver was arrested and his car was taken to the police station, both were released after receiving heavy interventions [from higher-ups] to help Suth Dina. However, Hang Sopheap, the deputy police commissioner of Thmor Kol district, told Koh Santepheap following the accident that: “We only released the car owner, but we kept the vehicle at the police station to resolve the issue with the victim’s side.”

Contrary to Phang Sopheap’s claim, observers of the accident reported from the police station that there was no confiscation of the SUV involved in the accident. In fact, both the driver and the SUV were released at 8PM on that same day, i.e. about 3 hours after the accident. Nevertheless, on 09 May, Koh Santepheap’s reporter met to interview Bou Saran, the victim’s father, at the Visal Sok hospital in Battambang city. Bou Saran said that his family was not informed about the release of the vehicle involved in the accident. Right now his son is under surgery at the hospital because one of his bones was smashed, and he will contact the cops to ask about this release after his son will feel better in order to obtain compensation for the loss of the motorcycle and the hospital fees.

Phang Sopheap, the deputy police commissioner involved in this case, claimed that Suth Dina will show up for the resolution of the payment claim made by the victim at a later date because the victim appears to sustain light injuries only. The action by the Thmor Kol district to release the culprit came under serious criticisms from the people who witnessed the accident. They said that because the driver in this case is a high-ranking and powerful [CPP] government official, if he were to be an ordinary citizen, he would be placed in the police cage right there in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, based on Hun Xen’s advice, he declared on many occasions that those who intervene in cases like this should stop doing that and they should stop perpetuating this intervention culture. They should let the authority or the court take care of the problem according to the law. As for the case involving His Excellency Suth Dina, it came under even more serious criticisms because he is a powerful and high-ranking government official, but when he is involved in an accident he ended up fleeing the scene as if he never understood anything about the law.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

LUCKY, YOU JOINED THE CPP JUST ON TIME, BOY.

Anonymous said...

You are right 09:47AM

Anonymous said...

send this mother fu_ker to jail!

Anonymous said...

PUT THAT SON OF A BITCH IN JAIL.
HE IS USELESS FOR CPP NOW.

Anonymous said...

This Mother Fucker traitor should not live on Cambodia Earth.

vichet said...

i don't believe this man from the begining. He just used other student.

Anonymous said...

I don't care! I'm on top and move out of my way. Don't you recognized my license plate different from the rest in Battambang.

Anonymous said...

This youngest boy is the son of Suth Sakun who were at the border camp and became a president of a party to protest CPP. After all, he became an officer with CPP and committed such crime, and then left the scene. Luckily, he has joined CPP as an anonymous said, otherwise he would be in jail immediately without a blink idea of the CPP cop.

Anonymous said...

HA HA A AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
KHMER is a group get no brian, no patriotism ,no heart for mother land .They love power and money
We give them power,used them and than control like robot
They will kill each other

Anonymous said...

Cheyo Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen Varman! Para Chey Sihanouk and it Son! Sihanouk is suck and stupid, can not get along with our Great Vietnam!