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| Chhouk Bandit |
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post
Two witnesses to the Bavet town factory shooting in February failed to show up at Svay Rieng Provincial Court yesterday despite being summoned by an investigating judge, with one citing fears for his safety.
Sok Vuthy, a 28 year-old worker, told the Post yesterday that he did not obey the court summons from investigating judge Pech Chhoeut because his family had forbidden him for fear it would put his life in danger.
“My father, mother and all my relatives did not allow me to go to the court. I wanted to help my friends [the victims], but I could not go against my family,” he said.
The fact that suspected shooter Chhouk Bandith is still on the loose was Sok Vuthy’s main cause for concern, he said, adding he that feared any testimony he gave might provoke an act of retribution.
On February 20, about 6,000 workers at the Kaoway Sports factory in Svay Rieng’s Bavet town were protesting poor working conditions when the sound of gunshots was heard and three female workers sustained bullet wounds.
Sok Vuthy, who did not see who shot the workers, saw a man with a gun running out of the factory, accompanying by several police officers. He later discovered that the man he saw with the gun was former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith.
The second witness to disregard the summons, female factory worker Un Sam Onn, could not be contacted yesterday.
Judge Pech Chhoeut said that “the two witnesses did not ask him for a delay” and simply did not come to the court, so he would discuss with lawyers of the victims how to proceed.
Nouth Bopinnaroath, provincial co-ordinator for human rights group Licadho, said the two were important witnesses in the shooting because of their vicinity to the victims at the time of the shooting.
“One of the witnesses could not be contacted, and another one feared presenting. In fact, they all agreed to be the witnesses. So the court will set a date for new testimony,” he added.
2 comments:
the fear factor in people here is probably has nothing to do with gov't. it's probably has more to do with the legacy of the KR and past regime that often instill fear in people. even in the 1960s, people were always fear of criticizing the gov't. so, i'm would jump to the conclusion about cambodia gov't now. it's some people's experience in life that cause them to fear. it's a psychological thing like we fear of traffic accident when we experience it, we fear of being eating alive by tiger, croc, etc when we saw it on tv, etc. it's natural thing we all have. so be brave and educated and stop be in fear all the time, really. if you do the right thing, then there shouldn't be fear at all. also, if you fear of political backlash, then use your rights and use anonymity, etc to deal with it; stop getting discourage about fear, face it instead, that's how we all can overcome fear, by doing something about it, not just whining about it, ok! be smart and wise about it. we all have fear of something, that's where the word "phobia" came from, so use that energy of fear to make change and something positive out of it, really!
One way to conquer fear is to face it. Franklin Roosevelt said "There's nothing to fear but fear itself". One must not be afraid to speak up. Life without freedom is like death itself. You are living but you're dead already. No freedom due to fear, then you are already dead.
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