Labour hero’s statue to go up in capital

Chea Vichea

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post

Phnom Penh Municipal Hall has granted its final approval, and construction will finally move forward on the long-proposed statue of slain labour rights crusader Chea Vichea, union officials said yesterday.

“According to Mann Senghak, an adviser to the Free Trade Union, which Vichea founded, the FTU will contribute US$8,000 to the effort and will begin construction as soon as possible.

The city, he said, pledged $5,000 towards building the 1.68-metre sandstone statue, which will be located in a park near Wat Lanka, just a short distance from where the activist was gunned down in 2004.

“Who Killed Chea Vichea?” screened at CITA headquarters with reporters attending the show

Screening of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" at CITA's headquarter

18 Nov. 2010
By S. Botum
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The film “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” which was prevented from being screened at the Democrazy Park (Freedom Park) in the evening of Wednesday, was instead safely shown in the morning of 18 Nov. at the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) headquarters. About 40 reporters were present during the showing of the one-hour film.

The film presents the events following the shooting and killing of Chea Vichea whose body can be seen lying in a pool of blood next to a newspaper kiosk near Wat Langka Pagoda, as well as the ensuing struggle to determine who would collect Chea Vichea’s body: a group consisting of the opposition party and Chea Vichea’s relatives versus the Phnom Penh cops under the order of Heng Pov, the Phnom Penh police commissioner.

The film also provides some clues that led to the killing of Chea Vichea which include Heng Pov, Ly Rasy, Hun Song, the former Tuol Kok police commissioner, Hok Lundy, as well as other people who were involved in this case. An important witness known to belong to the group of culprits involved in various killings in Phnom Penh had his blurried image shown in the film. According to this man, Hok Lundy and Heng Pov organized the assassination plan that was not only aimed at Chea Vichea alone, but that would include political figures, reporters, as well as Buddhist monks. The man claimed that Hok Luundy summoned Heng Pov to tell him about the shooting plan, he then proceeded to order young men to carry gun and the picture of the victim who must be assassinated.

The successive portions of the film also show the body of Ven. Sam Bun Thoeun [a Khmer Krom monk] and Mr. Chuor Chetharith, a reporter at the Ta Prom radio station who was killed by assassins next to a white car parked next the radio station fence. The film wanted to show that these killings were not accidental, but that they were planned and carried out by government cops.

Chea Vichea’s wife, who was filmed in Finland, said that up to now, her daughter kept on asking her: “My father was gentle, my father was good, why did they kill him?”

2nd attempt to "Who Killed Chea Vichea" stopped by cops

Chea Vichea Documentary Banned at Freedom Park [-Hun Xen can't stomach the truth?]

Rong Chhun talking to the press (Photo: DAP-news)

Labor leader Chea Mony was turned away from Freedom Park on Wednesday, where he hoped to screen a documentary about his slain brother, "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" (Photo: by Heng Reaksmey)

 Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 17 November 2010

“The banning of this film shows that the freedom of expression in Cambodia is less than zero.”

About 100 armed police prevented a group of demonstrators from showing a film at Phnom Penh's newly built park for protesters.

The Cambodian Cofederation of Unions had hoped to show “Who Killed Chea Vichea?,” which criticizes the handling of the murder case of a union leader, Chea Vichea.

A group of 20 protesters, including Chea Vichea's brother, Chea Mony, arrived at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh Wednesday, but they were turned away by police with electric batons and shields.

“The banning of this film shows that the freedom of expression in Cambodia is less than zero,” Chea Mony, who is himself a labor leader, said Wednesday.

He planned to make $10,000 in copies of the film for free distribution to the public, he said.

Chea Vichea, a widely popular labor leader, was shot to death in February 2004. His killers have never been arrested, and two men brought to court for the crime were widely considered innocent.

The film is an indictment of the handling of the case and has not been allowed a public screening in Cambodia.

Freedom Park was established by the city of Phnom Penh as the only legal site where protesters may gather.

The show must go on

Monday, 15 November 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

A Union activist has announced he will screen a controversial film at the city’s new Freedom Park at 5:30pm tomorrow, whether or not officials give their permission for the film to be shown publicly.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he wrote to Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema yesterday requesting permission to screen Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a 2009 film exploring the murder of the union activist.

“This film screening is intended for workers, teachers and people who can be aware of who killed Chea Vichea,” Rong Chhun said in the letter.

“It is also a reminder to the authorities to accelerate the investigation of this case to provide justice for Mr Chea Vichea.”

Chea Vichea, the former head of the Free Trade Union, was gunned down outside Phnom Penh’s Wat Lanka in 2004.

Though two men were arrested in connection with the killing, they were released in 2009 and rights activists have been urging the government to track down those responsible.

Kep Chuktema declined to comment yesterday, but Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Rong Chhun would only have the right to screen the film if he received permission from the authorities.

According to the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations, protests can only be held at the Freedom Park with 12 hours’ advance notice and are capped at 200 persons.

He said Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a film directed by American Bradley Cox, was produced without permission from the relevant institutions. Since it was illegal, he said, it could not be screened publicly, and could only be shown privately.

“It is still a forbidden film. There is no public spot for him to screen it. If he wants to screen it, he can go and try. He has tried that already,” Khieu Sopheak said.

Previous attempts to screen the film in May were stymied by authorities.

Rong Chhun said that if the government refuses him permission to show the film, they should abolish the newly created Freedom Park, which the city has promoted as an arena for free expression.

“Otherwise, the Freedom Park was just created to deceive national and international opinion,” he added.

Chea Mony, Chea Vichea’s brother and the current FTU president, urged the government to shine a light on the murder of his brother, saying that banning the film would only perpetuate the culture of “impunity” in Cambodia.

But Kong Kannara, under secretary of state of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said the film was produced without a licence and that the authorities would take action to stop the screening.

“If it is illegal, they have the right to block it,” Kong Kannara said.

Rong Chhun asks to show “Who Killed Chea Vichea” on 17 November

Chea Vichea's murder

15 Nov. 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soy

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) and also President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), sent a letter to the Phnom Penh city hall on 15 November asking to show the film “Who Killed Chea Vichea” at the Democrazy Square (aka Squash Freedom Park) which was inaugurated and put to public use on 04 Nov. In his letter, Rong Chhun asked to show the film “Who Killed Chea Vichea” in the evening of 17 Nov. No reply was provided by city hall officials yet. However, the city hall used to prevent Rong Chhun from showing this movie once already when the latter tried to show it in public on 01 May 2010 (May Day).

Assassination of a union leader

Assassinated Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea.
Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea in 2003.
Bradley Cox, director of ‘Who Killed Chea Vichea?’

1/09/2010
By Ezra
Bangkok Post
Culture BREAKDOWN

Chea Vichea was the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, seeking higher wages and improved conditions for garment workers. Frequently harassed, at times beaten, he worked on despite death threats and the attempted intimidation. On January 22, 2004 he was shot in the head and chest in the morning while reading a newspaper by two men driving by on a motorcycle.

A few days after Vichea's assassination, Cambodian police arrested two men and charged them with the murder. Born Samnang initially admitted to the killing but then publicly retracted, claiming to have been tortured into confessing. Witnesses placed Born Samnang in a different part of the country at the time of the murder. The second suspect, Sok Sam Oeun, denied any involvement and had alibis placing him with friends at the time.

The criminal investigation was done by Phnom Penh's Tuol Kork district police and plagued by irregularities. Officers focused on threatening and rounding up those who provided alibis for the suspects, while witnesses were intimidated. Eventually on December 31, 2008, supreme court judge Dith Monty dismissed the conviction, and the two were provisionally released.

Who Killed Chea Vichea?, which captures the story as it unfolds, recently screened at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand. Director Bradley Cox, who had interviewed Chea Vichea about his labour union activism, was on the scene moments after the murder, and followed the subsequent trial and conducted his own investigation. Jim Pollard, FCCT board member, called it one of the best documentaries ever made on Cambodia. Public screenings of the film have been banned in Cambodia.

Cox previously made the documentary Cambodia: Anatomy of an Election, was a co-founder of Bhutan's first film school, has worked as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles and has won numerous film festival awards. While filming the army crackdown on the red-shirt protests on May 19, Cox was shot in the leg at the same time that Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi was shot and killed. He took video of Polenghi as he was being carried away.

We talked with Bradley Cox about Chea Vichea, reaction to the film and broader problems in Cambodia.

Is 'Who Killed Chea Vichea?' about the assassination of one individual or as much about broader issues in Cambodia?

The movie is primarily an investigation into the murder of Chea Vichea and about the two men convicted for the crime. But I use the case to highlight a much bigger problem, that of the unchecked corruption and impunity that continues to plague Cambodia. Although there are plenty of movies about Cambodia, almost all of them focus on the past and the Khmer Rouge era. This film focuses on the present, Cambodia as it is now.

You knew Chea Vichea before his death. What was he like as an individual?

I think the term "hero" is one of the most overused words in the English language but Chea Vichea was the real deal. He had a dangerous job and was beaten, arrested and threatened many times. Yet he refused to be intimidated and continued his work despite the risks. And in the end, he was killed for it.

The extraordinary aspect of the film is that it follows developments before and after the murder; viewers can watch the events unfold. But what brought you to Cambodia initially?

I first met Vichea when he received a death threat just before the 2003 national election. According to police, it came from a high-ranking official in the government and they were powerless to intervene. My videotaped interview with Vichea was his last. Six months later to the day, he was assassinated. I arrived at the murder scene only minutes after it happened and followed the case closely, filming the funeral, the arrests of the two men and their conviction in court. I also conducted my own investigation into the case, something the police never bothered to do. The results, as seen in the movie, show quite clearly the two men are innocent.

What reasons did the Cambodian government give for banning the film?

The government has given a litany of reasons, or should I say excuses, for not allowing the movie to be shown in Cambodia. Among them, it was not approved by the Ministry of Culture. It was also called an "illegal import" and, according to the Ministry of Interior, it was an incitement of the public. In addition, the Press and Quick Response Unit vowed to stop any future screenings wherever they are held. I should add that no government official has yet seen the movie. The real message here is that the authorities will censure anyone and any film that criticises the government.

In the media there seems to have been as many stories about the banning of your film as about the film itself. Did the government's stance backfire in giving it more publicity?

Prime Minister Hun Sen does not respond well to criticism. In the past, UN peace envoys who publicly decried Cambodia's human rights abuses have been told they are no longer welcome in the kingdom. NGOs have been threatened with expulsion. More recently, journalists are threatened, arrested and jailed for articles critical of the government. The Minister of Information Khieu Kanarith was quoted as saying, "It might have been that the documentary intends to accuse the government of murder." It may be one of the few true statements he's ever made.

Have some of Chea Vichea's union goals, like raising the minimum wage of garment factory workers, since been achieved?

Although there have been small increases in salaries over the last few years, they have been outstripped by cost of living increases. Discontent among workers has been increasing and there are now plans afoot to mount big strikes sometime in the next month.

Has anyone else stepped into the void left by his murder - or was it successful in creating fear among potential activists?

Fear has always been present among labour organisations in Cambodia trying to increase wages or improve working conditions. But the bar was raised substantially when Vichea was killed. In fact, two other organisers from Vichea's union were killed subsequently to him. And all were done in the same way, by two men on a motorcycle. Many organisers are harassed, threatened and fired by their employers. This is a direct violation of the law but the law seldom matters when dealing with the police and the courts. What matters is who has the money and power. The workers have neither so it is always an uphill battle.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, initially arrested for and convicted of Chea's murder, have been released from prison, and rights groups have said they were framed. Do you think those responsible for his murder will ever be held to account?

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have been released but only provisionally. In other words, if the court decided, they could be sent back to prison. So although I'm happy that they are free, the case continues to hang over their heads. They deserve to have the charges officially dropped, but it could be months or years before this happens. Why? Because this case has been an embarrassment to the Cambodian government since the beginning. The police frame-up of the two men was inept and the trial was a mockery of justice. I think the last thing the government wants is more headlines on this case. For this reason, I doubt there will be any more arrests or, for that matter, any real investigation.

Cambodia relies a lot on foreign aid and investment. Are these improving the country, or will corruption and mismanagement continue to hinder development?

International donors gave $1.1 billion [34.4 billion baht] in aid to Cambodia this past year. According to Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, the country loses about $500 million a year to corruption. That's a quarter of the national budget. One has to wonder who's getting all that money. Top government officials give speeches about cracking down on corruption, but that's for the benefit of donor countries with deep pockets. The truth is that the government is a kleptocracy and no one wants to kill the golden goose. For things to improve, there needs to political will, and there is none.

Are you working on other projects at the moment?

I am finishing work on the DVD of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, which can be purchased through the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

Chea Vichea film to be shown

Friday, 30 April 2010
Meas Sokchea and James O’toole
The Phnom Penh Post

Organisers say they will ignore government orders to first secure permission.

CAMBODIAN Confederation of Unions (CCU) President Rong Chhun says he will hold an outdoor screening of a controversial documentary about slain labour leader Chea Vichea on Saturday’s Labour Day holiday, despite not having received permission from government officials to do so.

Rong Chhun met at City Hall on Thursday for one hour with Koeut Chhe, the Phnom Penh Municipality’s deputy chief of cabinet, who told him that he could not show the film without first securing permission from the “relevant” government ministries such as the Ministry of Interior. The CCU president’s decision to flout the official’s orders could set up a confrontation, though it was unclear on Thursday how the government would respond to Rong Chhun’s decision.

“This country has laws, so if [Rong Chhun] is showing the film publicly, he must ask permission,” Koeut Chhe said following the meeting. “If he violates the law, that’s his business, but he must be responsible for his violations of the law.”

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Thursday that because organisers are planning to show the film outdoors, jurisdiction over their activities falls to City Hall and the Ministry of Interior. Under the Kingdom’s new Demonstration Law, passed last year, government authorities may “take actions to cease” any unauthorised demonstrations or public gatherings.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak on Thursday called the film an “illegal import”. When asked how the government would respond to an unauthorised screening, he said to “wait and see on Saturday”.

Minister of Culture Him Chhem also claimed jurisdiction, saying that his ministry would have to grant permission before a public film screening could go ahead.

“Our Ministry has no problem with the screening. It is [Rong Chhun’s] right, but he must do it legally,” Him Chhem said.

Rong Chhun said Thursday that he planned to go ahead with the screening regardless of the government’s response, claiming he did not have enough time to secure permission from officials at the ministerial level.

“We have already seen politicians murdered, artists murdered, as well as an important union president murdered, and so far the authorities have not found the killers and their backers to be punished,” Rong Chhun said. “At 5:30pm on [Saturday], we are going to do everything according to the plan we submitted to the municipality – we will not withdraw.”

The CCU plans to screen the documentary near Chamkarmon district’s Wat Lanka, where Chea Mony was gunned down in 2004. The film, directed by American Bradley Cox, is currently touring film festivals and is scheduled for wider release in the US later this year.

Drawing from interviews with police, government officials and other public figures, including Chea Vichea himself, Cox’s film offers a portrayal of thuggish law enforcement and a kleptocratic ruling elite under Prime Minister Hun Sen. Although it does not make direct accusations, the film implies that Chea Vichea was killed because of his ties to the opposition, and that the two men convicted of the murder were framed.

Moeun Chhean Narridh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said Rong Chhun should attempt to get government authorisation “for extra precaution”, but should ultimately not be bound by attempts to constrain his freedom of expression.

“It does not cost anything just to ask permission, but if the Ministry of Culture or any other authorities do not give him permission, he should just go ahead and show the film anyway,” Moeun Chhean Narridh said.

Chea Mony, who has replaced his brother as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, accused municipal officials of attempting to delay the screening and prevent the public from seeing the film.

“It is a pretext,” Chea Mony said. “If the authorities do not allow the screening, it means that they are afraid of learning more about Chea Vichea’s killing.”

Who Was Chea Vichea and Why Does He Matter? Ask Filmmaker Bradley Cox

Chea Vichea's declaration

April 29, 2010
Jim Luce
Huffington Post

In my own special screening, director Bradley Cox recently showed me his 55-minute film Who Killed Chea Vichea? in his office in Manhattan. Bradley is now in Southeast Asia. Chea Vichea was the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) until his assassination on Chinese New Year in January 2004. Vichea was shot in the head and chest early in the morning while reading a newspaper at a kiosk in Phnom Penh.

I had interviewed Cambodian Parliament Member Mu Sochua -- the Cory Aquino or Aung San Suu Kyi of Cambodia, for The Huffington Post in March before she returned to Phnom Penh (story). She had told me, "The day I joined the opposition party was the day the leader of the workers' movement -- Chea Vichea -- was assassinated. He was the founder of the opposition in Cambodia."

Chea Vichea was assassinated in broad daylight. Brad Cox arrived just minutes after he was gunned down, and his footage makes for some of the most powerful moments of the film.

Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surrounded the fallen union leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day's newspaper. Images from the funeral that followed of Buddhist priests crying as they watch the procession pass are haunting.

The government arrested two men and imprisoned them for their supposed crime. They were both soon judged innocent. The government did not like that judicial decision and the judge was immediately removed from his position at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. His decision to drop charges was subsequently overturned in June 2004.

The Cambodian union leader Chea Vichea in 2003, one year before he was killed.
From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.

The two men were found guilty after a trial where no witnesses testified against the accused and no forensic evidence was brought to court. Both individuals were sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 compensation each to the family of the victim. Vichea's family turned down the compensation, stating that they did not believe the two convicted were the real murderers.

The documentary of his life and death, Who Killed Chea Vichea?, premiered March 27 at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland. The film, released by Loud Mouth Films in Philadelphia and Bangkok, is a gripping account of a corrupt government's campaign to hold onto power at any cost, and the quiet resistance of a people facing overwhelming odds. Filmed over five years, and following events as they happened, Who Killed Chea Vichea? was produced by Rich Garella and Jeffrey Saunders with an original score by Gil Talmi.

I interviewed film producer Rich Garella about their deeply moving film:

To me the core of this movie is that it unmasks a dictatorship. Unlike Burma, for example, Cambodia enjoys a lot of foreign aid from Western countries, who are basically being played against China by the Cambodian regime.

The tacit arrangement is that the Western donors agree to play along with the pretense that Cambodia is a 'fledgling democracy' and that Cambodia is constantly making incremental progress on human rights, corruption reduction, election quality and so forth -- even though there is never any detectable change for the better in these areas.

And if they don't play along, and actually demand some accountability, well, Cambodia can just get the same amount of aid from China, no strings attached.

It can also be viewed as a hostage situation, where (Cambodian Prime Minister) Hun Sen says to the West: Don't demand anything that threatens my power or I can make Cambodia into Burma II, and you don't want that. You don't want another intractable problem with a China-backed surrogate and you don't want the poor people of Cambodia to suffer even more than they do.

So Who Killed Chea Vichea? takes one example, out of many, to show that the Cambodian regime really has no limits on its ability to carry out any kind of atrocity, obscuring it only with the flimsiest veil of legitimacy. It's one of the few times, and probably the only time in the case of Cambodia, where a film follows a single emblematic event like this from start to finish, as it unfolds. And thereby gives viewers outside the country a front-row seat to the actual mechanics of this kind of soft dictatorship.

By focusing on a single key case we bring the story down to the human level, which is necessary because the power that the Cambodian regime wields works on the human level -- it's personal fear that limits what Cambodian people can do. They know that the regime has the power of life and death over each and every one of them. This is what the regime intends to illustrate by killing such a well-known and loved person as Chea Vichea: We can kill anyone, at any time, with complete impunity, whether our Western sponsors like it or not... so watch your step.

One aspect of this that we hope to reveal to viewers in these sponsoring countries, including the U.S., is that the apparent incompetence of the authorities in covering their tracks actually serves an important function for them. They don't actually want the people of Cambodia to think anything other than that the authorities had Vichea killed. They need the people to know that it was a political assassination that came from the top, or it wouldn't serve its purpose.

The foreign viewers should realize that the purpose of the cover-up (the framing of the two suspects) is a show that is staged only for the benefit the foreigners at home -- and it's impossible for anyone in Cambodia, including the diplomats from those foreign countries -- not to know the truth.

So in a way, we hope that the film can be a kind of key for viewers, that having seen this, they can have a better understanding not only of the situation in Cambodia but that it will help them interpret events in other countries that receive aid or trade benefits.

And of course, we tried to provide it in a way that is dramatic on a human level, to make it a true investigative thriller that pulls them into an unfamiliar world and gives them, as I mentioned, a front-row seat.

Monks precede dignitaries in funeral march for assassinated union leader Chea Vichea.

From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.

The story continues to be told. This week, The Phnom Penh Post published Delving Into An Old Murder, by James O'Toole and Meas Sokchea:

Vichea spent the morning playing with his daughter, studying his Khmer-English dictionary and plucking his moustache before deciding to leave his Phnom Penh home and pick up a copy of the day's newspaper.

"I watched him from the balcony as he left," Chea Vichea's wife, Chea Kimny, tells director Bradley Cox. "I got up and went to the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt like something kicked me in the chest."

Cox travelled to Cambodia to cover the contentious 2003 elections, and stayed to pursue the story of Chea Vichea's murder. In a one-hour film screened for the Post on Wednesday, he draws on interviews with witnesses and public figures to document the investigation of what has become one of the Kingdom's most infamous political killings in recent years.

"This is not a tale - it is a true story," Chea Mony said. "This film just wants to inform other countries, particularly free, democratic countries, that we can have no confidence in the Cambodian justice system."

In its early moments, Who Killed Chea Vichea? contains footage from an interview with its titular figure. With his slight build and nasal voice, he does not make for an intimidating presence, but his resolve is clear as he describes the history of death threats against him.

"I think they want to kill me because of my experience in the past," Chea Vichea says, adding: "I'm not afraid. If I'm afraid, it's like I die."

Evidence on display during police press conference.

From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.

The film's director Brad Cox is perhaps best suited to answer the question, Who was Chea Vichea and why does he matter? When I met with Brad in New York, he told me:

"Hero" is perhaps the most overused word in the English language, and to be honest, I don't know if I ever met an honest-to-goodness hero in the flesh until I met Chea Vichea.

Imagine a country where you can be arrested for simply displeasing the powers that be. Imagine a country where standing up for your rights can get you killed. This is Cambodia. To get by, most people keep their heads down and their mouths shut. Vichea did the opposite.

He stood up for the hundreds of thousands of garment workers who wanted nothing more than to be treated fairly and to receive a living wage. For his troubles, he was beaten, threatened and arrested countless times.

And when his life was threatened and the police urged him to leave the country, he refused to be intimidated. He stood his ground, because as he told me "If I leave, who will look after the people?"

Heroes are people who go forward despite being fully aware of the dangers that lie ahead. In this regard, Chea Vichea was the real deal.

The Free Trade Union of which Chea Vichea was president traditionally holds a big march on Labor Day -- May 1 -- that attracts thousands of people. They may try to have a public screening of the film this May 1 in the park in Phnom Penh across from where Vichea was killed. If so, it would be a landmark event in Cambodia. I believe the authorities will sadly intervene.

Director Bradley Cox with producers Jeffrey Saunders and Rich Garella.
From "Who Killed Chea Vichea? Copyright 2009 Loud Mouth Films.

Director Bradley Cox has lived in Cambodia for almost five years. He captured the story of Chea Vichea's murder as it unfolded on the streets and in the courtrooms of Cambodia. He previously made the documentary Cambodia: Anatomy of an Election, was a co-founder of Bhutan's first film school, has worked as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles and has won numerous film festival awards.

Producer Rich Garella lived in Cambodia for most of 1995 - 2003. He was managing editor of The Cambodia Daily, and later worked as press secretary for Cambodia's main opposition party. He co-wrote and produced Polygraph for MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds project in 2004; the ad was broadcast nationally. With Eric Pape, he wrote A Tragedy of No Importance, about the 1997 grenade attack against the Cambodian opposition.

Producer Jeffrey Saunders is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of CinemaCapital, an independent production and distribution company based in New York City. His films have been selected at international festivals including the Berlin Film Festival, IDFA, SWSX and Thessaloniki, and acquired by broadcasters including Sundance, ARTE, TF1, ZDF and SBS. His feature film Goal Dreams was selected as one of the top ten "Movies that Matter" by Amnesty International in 2006.

When the truth hurts ... just ban it: Hun Xen's regime

Authorities Ban Screening of Chea Vichea Film

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 29 April 2010

“The movie does not dishonor the nation,” he said. “And we think the screening would push authorities to speed up the investigation.”

Phnom Penh and Ministry of Interior authorities have banned the screening of a US documentary on the murder of labor leader Chea Vichea, saying the film is not licensed in Cambodia.

Organizers of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions had planned to show the film, which questions the motives behind the 2004 murder of the widely popular activist, for International Labor Day.

Organizers had wanted to screen the film following a May 1 march of around 200 workers and teachers on the National Assembly and the site near Wat Langka pagoda where Chea Vichea was killed.

In a letter to the confederation, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said authorities would approve the demonstration but not the screening of the film, which he said “has no license from related ministries.”

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the film was considered an incitement of the public that painted relevant authorities as inefficient.

The death of Chea Vichea led to the arrests of two men, Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun who were widely considered innocent and later released, an aspect of the case explored by the film. No further arrests have been made.

Rong Chhun, president of the Confederation of Unions, called the decision “a ban to a freedom.”

“The movie does not dishonor the nation,” he said. “And we think the screening would push authorities to speed up the investigation.”

Chea Mony, brother of the slain activist and head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said the movie would link the murder to government officials, which likely prompted the ban.

Khieu Sopheak said authorities have not planned further investigation into the killing, because the two suspects who were already charged have only been provisionally released, pending the outcome of further court hearings.

Group to screen Chea Vichea film

A screenshot from the documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea? shows the union leader moments after he was shot dead on Street 51 and Sihanouk Boulevard. (Image courtesy of Bradley Cox)

Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Unionists propose screening the documentary near the site of the labour leader’s 2004 murder

UNIONISTS plan to mark the May 1 Labour Day holiday by screening a documentary that explores the infamous unsolved murder of leader Chea Vichea near the spot where he was gunned down, union officials said Tuesday.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he is planning to show the film, titled Who Killed Chea Vichea?, on Saturday in an attempt to pressure authorities, who critics say have dragged their heels in finding the perpetrators of the January 2004 slaying.

“We want this case to be investigated,” Rong Chhun said. The government “should not allow this case to go unresolved”.

Chea Vichea’s family believes the murder was political, and that he was targeted because he was a prominent union leader. Two men were arrested and convicted after his death, but
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted they are not guilty.

Screening the film could prove controversial. Organisers plan to show it next to the gates of Wat Lanka, near the street corner where Chea Vichea was shot.

Filmmaker Bradley Cox said that rather than focusing on who pulled the trigger, the documentary seeks to ask the question of who ordered the murder.

“Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this,” he said last week via email.

Chea Mony, who succeeded his murdered brother as leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said organisers hope the film will shine a light on the government’s failure to solve the case.

“Many well-known persons were killed, but the killers have never been arrested,” said Chea Mony, who urged authorities to allow organisers to screen the film. “The government must not prohibit the showing of this film because people have suffered greatly from this murder.”

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said authorities would not stop anyone from showing the film for political reasons.

However, he said organisers must obtain permission from Phnom Penh municipal officials first because the screening will be in public.

“For [the government], it is no problem, but normally if you are showing it in a public spot, you must ask permission from the authorities,” Khieu Kanharith said.

“If we cannot find [the killers], let them criticise us. It doesn’t matter.”

Union organisers said they have sent an official request to City Hall asking for permission to show the film.

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment.

Delving into an old murder

A photo in the home of Chea Mony shows the body of his brother, Chea Vichea, a labour union leader, after he was shot and killed at a newsstand on Street 51. (Photo by: Tracey Shelton)

Thursday, 22 April 2010
James O’toole and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Documentary seeks answers about the killing of union leader Chea Vichea.

I was much more interested in who was behind the murder and who gave the ok.

CHEA Vichea spent the morning playing with his daughter, studying his Khmer-English dictionary and plucking his moustache before deciding to leave his Phnom Penh home and pick up a copy of the day’s newspaper.

“I watched him from the balcony as he left,” Chea Vichea’s wife, Chea Kimny, tells director Bradley Cox. “I got up and went to the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt like something kicked me in the chest.”

Cox arrived at the newsstand outside Chamkarmon district’s Wat Lanka just minutes after Chea Vichea was gunned down on January 22, 2004, and his footage from the scene makes for some of the most powerful moments of his new documentary, Who Killed Chea Vichea? Local police struggle to maintain order as journalists and frenzied onlookers surround the fallen labour leader, his blood spilled over a copy of that day’s Koh Santepheap newspaper.

Cox travelled to Cambodia to cover the contentious 2003 elections, and stayed to pursue the story of Chea Vichea’s murder. In a one-hour film screened for the Post on Wednesday, he draws on interviews with witnesses and public figures to document the investigation of what has become one of the Kingdom’s most infamous political killings in recent years.

As outrage mounted in the days following Chea Vichea’s death, police arrested two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – and charged them with the killing. They were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison at a 2005 trial that was widely derided for failing to meet international standards.

Chea Vichea’s family has insisted since the arrest of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun that the pair are not responsible for the crime, a claim that came closer to vindication last year when the Supreme Court ordered their release after almost five years in prison, pending a new trial.

Interviews with the men’s friends and relatives in the documentary corroborate their claims that they were nowhere near the crime scene at the time of the murder.

Chea Mony, who has taken his older brother’s place as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened earlier this year to organise a strike if the government did not make progress in the case. He maintains that Chea Vichea was murdered because of his status as a union leader, and expressed doubt that the truth of what happened will ever come to light.

“I think there is no chance to find justice for Chea Vichea under the current government – I have no belief at all,” Chea Mony said Wednesday. “Is it the government’s will to find the killers, or is a powerful person involved in this murder?”

Although Chea Mony had not yet seen the film himself – Cox says plans for international distribution are still in development – he said relatives in the US had told him it presented a “frightful” depiction of Cambodian politics.

“This is not a tale – it is a true story,” Chea Mony said. “This film just wants to inform other countries, particularly free, democratic countries, that we can have no confidence in the Cambodian justice system.”

In August, the Appeal Court announced a new investigation in Chea Vichea’s case and said that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are to remain free until a verdict is handed down. Appeal Court deputy president Choun Sunleng said Wednesday that investigation duties have been dispatched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Court President Chiv Keng said that an investigation is in progress, but declined to comment further.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Chea Mony was entitled to express his views on the case, though he noted that the investigation of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is ongoing.

“If he does not believe [the investigation], it’s up to him,” Khieu Sopheak said of Chea Mony. “Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun’s release is temporary – it is not final.”

Fatal consequences

Though the website for Who Killed Chea Vichea? touts the film as “a highly charged murder mystery”, Cox said viewers expecting a straightforward whodunnit story will be disappointed.

“In making the movie, I was never particularly interested in finding out who actually pulled the trigger,” Cox wrote in an email on Wednesday.

“I was much more interested in who was behind the murder and who gave the OK. Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this.”

Though the film makes no direct accusations about Chea Vichea’s death, it paints a damning picture of law enforcement under Prime Minister Hun Sen, portraying former national police chief Hok Lundy and former municipal police chief Heng Pov as the government’s ruthless enforcers.

“When they needed a job done, Hok Lundy would call men like Heng Pov to a meeting,” one anonymous former police official tells Cox. The man says he committed “many” murders on Heng Pov’s orders, and adds: “Afterwards, we’d feed the corpse to the crocodiles.”

An anonymous former government official tells Cox that the judiciary is controlled in similarly hierarchical fashion.

“There isn’t a single judge who is independent.... If a judge makes a decision on his own, the consequences could be fatal,” the official says.

In footage from a press conference held shortly after Chea Vichea’s murder, Heng Pov briefs reporters on the status of the investigation, identifying the owner of the Wat Lanka newsstand as the only witness in the case before catching himself and hastily ordering reporters not to write about her.

“If you want to help Chea Vichea, don’t mention the news seller,” Heng Pov says.

That woman, Va Sothy, has since stated publicly that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun look nothing like the two men she saw commit the murder. She now lives in the United States after being granted asylum – Chea Vichea’s wife and family have successfully sought asylum in Finland – and she tells Cox that the presence of a man on a mobile phone near the crime scene – suspected by onlookers to be an undercover police officer – suggested to her official involvement.

“I heard him say, ‘The work is done,’” Va Sothy says.

Unbowed by threats

Cox said he hopes the film, which premiered last month in the US at the Frederick Film Festival in Maryland, will be broadcast in the US and other countries later this year. Considering its politically charged content, he was not optimistic that the Cambodian government would allow him to distribute the film here, though he said he hopes residents of the Kingdom eventually have access to it.

In its early moments, Who Killed Chea Vichea? contains footage from an interview with its titular figure. With his slight build and nasal voice, he does not make for an intimidating presence, but his resolve is clear as he describes the history of death threats against him.

“I think they want to kill me because of my experience in the past,” Chea Vichea says, adding: “I’m not afraid. If I’m afraid, it’s like I die.”

Chea Vichea Film Prompts Questions in US

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Maryland
31 March 2010

Who killed Chea Vichea? The question remains unanswered not just for the man’s family but also American audiences who attended the premiere last weekend of a vivid film about Cambodia’s politics and the slain union leader’s struggle for labor rights.

“Who Killed Chea Vichea?” debuted at Maryland’s second Frederick Film Festival in an effort to attract international support for the cause of justice for workers and Cambodians.

Director Brad Cox said murders of unionists and journalists, a biased court system and incompetent police continue to plague Cambodia and need international attention.

“What I think the first step in these Western countries should be is acknowledging that Cambodia is not a democracy,” Brad Cox told VOA Khmer. “It’s run by the very few at the very top, and to suggest that it’s a democracy is a myth.”

That myth is convenient for Western countries to accept, “because they don’t want to confront or upset the government,” Cox said. “If they can at least acknowledge that these things happen, that would be a first step in trying to make thing better there.”

“Who Killed Chea Vichea?” examines the competition for power among the country’s main political parties, the Cambodian People’s Party, Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party, following general elections in 2003.

At the time, Cambodia’s workers, led by Chea Vichea, were demanding better salaries and working conditions in tumultuous, massive demonstrations.

Chea Vichea was shot dead in broad daylight in January 2004 as he read a newspaper near Phnom Penh’s Wat Langka pagoda. The two assailants escaped, but two other men, widely believed innocent, were promptly arrested, charged and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The two men, Born Samnang and Sok Sameoun, spent five years in jail before they were provisionally released in a Supreme Court decision in 2008. No further arrests have been made.

“Who Killed Chea Vichea?” does not answer its own question, but Cox said the labor leader’s prominence as an activist meant an order for his assassination “would have to come from very high. And the way the government is set up, there are very few people who are very high.”

People are still afraid to talk about the killing, Cox said, and the courts have moved slowly in bringing their attention to the case.

The film, however, is raising awareness and prompting viewers to ask their own questions.

“When I saw this documentary, I felt emotional and painful, but don’t know what else we can do to help,” said Khalarath Bloesch-Sek, who saw the film in the town of Frederick. “There seems not much we can do to help improve Cambodia. I hope that the younger generation will stand up and lead the country forward to be a better place.”

Jason Judd, one of the film festival’s organizers, was also a colleague of Chea Vichea.

“Leading a union is very difficult; one must be brave,” he told VOA Khmer. “And in Cambodia there are not many union leaders like Chea Vichea.”

1,000 Cambodians rally

May 1, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - MORE than 1,000 Cambodian workers on Friday marched through the capital to demand better wages and conditions and a halt to violence against unionists as they marked international labour day.

The group of mostly textile and hotel workers, carrying colourful banners and Cambodian flags, marched from a park near the royal palace to the parliament, where they handed a petition to political opposition leaders.

'The government has to listen to our requests,' said Chea Mony, head of Cambodia's largest workers' group, the Cambodian Free Trade Union.

'It has to take care of the workers because they help bring billions of dollars to the government,' he said.

The workers later marched to the place where Chea Vichea, who headed the country's largest labour union and was a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was gunned down in January 2004.

The daylight murder was condemned by rights groups as a brutal attempt to silence opposition-linked unions and two men jailed over the killing were later released and a retrial has not yet been scheduled.

Demonstrators shouted their demands through loudspeakers - the establishment of a labour court, a monthly 120-dollar minimum wage, fair treatment and a reduction in working hours from 48 hours to 44 hours per week.

Garment exports from the impoverished country have dropped sharply amid the global economic downturn and tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs this year.

Hotel workers are also suffering from lower tourism revenues after foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia dropped by 2.19 per cent in January compared with the same period last year.

Accused Killer Calls for Proper Investigation

Sok Sam Oeun (Center) (Photo: AFP)

Hong Kim Suon, lawyer of recently released suspect Sok Samoeun, who is facing an appeals hearing in coming months with a second suspect, Born Samnang.

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
13 January 2009

One of the men released in the murder case of Chea Vichea on Monday called for Cambodian authorities to conduct thorough investigations before arresting the “innocent.”

“In prison it’s not easy,” Sok Samoeun, who is awaiting an Appeals Court hearing on murder charges against him, said on “Hello VOA.” “It’s something that has more suffering than I can say.”

Sok Samoeun stands accused, along with Born Samnang, of the murder of union leader Chea Vichea, in January 2004, but both men are widely considered innocent.

They each face 20-year prison sentences, but were released earlier this month when the Supreme Court ordered the Appeals Court to rehear their case.

Since his release, Sok Samoeun has entered a pagoda as a monk.

His lawyer, Hong Kim Suon, said Monday the police should conduct a credible investigation into the killing.

“If they can’t find the real killer in the future, they can’t put my client back in jail for an exchange,” he said.

A Surprising Legal Turn In Cambodia [-Injustice is so bad under Hun Sen's rule]

By Michael Sullivan
National Public Radio (USA)

Click here to listen to the audio program in English [4 min 27 sec]

All Things Considered, January 10, 2009 · In Cambodia, Born Samnang had a New Year's Eve he'll never forget: He was released after five years in prison. He'd been convicted of a crime nobody — not even the Cambodian authorities — though he committed. His release surprised almost everyone. But nobody's saying that the rule of law has returned to Cambodia.

Police Could Re-Investigate Chea Vichea Murder

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 January 2009

Police will re-investigate the murder of popular labor leader Chea Vichea if and when the courts order it, a spokesman said Monday.

Last week the two men who had been accused of the murder, Sok Samoeun and Born Samnang, were released from jail, following an order by the Supreme Court for the Appeals Court to rehear their case.

The two men had faced 20-year prison sentences for the murder of Chea Vichea, who was gunned down in broad daylight in January 2004.

"We are waiting for the final decision by the courts, and if the court orders the police to re-investigate, we will," Ministry of Interior spokesman Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak said Monday, following calls by non-governmental organizations for a re-investigation of the killing. "We respect the court's order and the court's decision."

The Appeals Court is expected to decide on the cases of Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun within the next 60 days. Both men said Monday they intended to appear when the court calls them.

Released Suspects in Union Murder Wary

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 January 2009

Two men released on bail Thursday night after more than four years in prison said they were grateful but wary they had not received full justice.

Born Samnang, 24, and Sok Samoeun, 36, were released from Prey Sar prison Wednesday night, following a decision by the Supreme Court Wednesday ordering the Appeal Court to review murder charges against them for the 2004 killing of popular labor leader Chea Vichea.

The two men are widely believed innocent for the murder, despite decisions by the Phnom Penh Municipal and Appeals court of their guilt.

"We have not received 100 percent of justice yet, if we do not commit a murder, but at least we received a part of justice," Born Samnang told VOA Khmer by phone Thursday. "When I walked out of prison, my life was reborn, and I will be very happy if the court will completely
drop all charges against me."

"In walking out of prison, I am very happy," Sok Samoeun said. "But I have a very strange and unclear feeling for an injustice against me, as I suffered under powerful and legal men in Cambodia. I want the court to drop completely all charges against me, to provide real
justice for me, because I did not commit a murder."

Both men will be expected to appear before the Appeals Court in coming months, but their release, even if temporary, was welcomed.

"We hope the Appeals Court will take up the case expeditiously and finally resolve this matter in a way consistent with Cambodian law and international standards of due process," the US Embassy said in a statement.

Hong Kimsoun, defense lawyer for both men, called the decision a "victory"

Chea Vichea, the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, was gunned down Jan. 22, 2004, near the newspaper stalls near Wat Langka, in Phnom Penh's Chamkarmon district. Both were arrested shortly thereafter and convicted in August 2005 of murder, despite alibis and the absence of key evidence.

The municipal court's decision was upheld by the Appeals Court in April 2007, but after a five-hour hearing Wednesday, the Supreme Court said ordered the Appeals Court to review "mistakes" judges had made in legal process and evidence.

Supreme Court ruling on Chea Vichea killers gets mixed reaction

Vuon Phon, Sok Sam Oeun’s father who has campaigned for his son’s release, talks to reporters after Wednesday’s court ruling. (Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN)

Friday, 02 January 2009
Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Christopher Shay
The Phnom Penh Post

After nearly five years in prison, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – convicted of killing union leader Chea Vichea – have been released pending an Appeal Court retrial

BORN Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, the convicted murderers of outspoken union leader Chea Vichea, woke up in prison for the 1,798th time on Wednesday but went to bed free men.

The Cambodian Supreme Court on Wednesday sent their case back down to the Appeal Court and released them from prison, citing contradictory evidence in the previous trials.

For the first time in nearly five years, the two men were going home.

But many rights organisations - though pleased with Wednesday's decision - are not ready to believe in the independence of the Cambodian judiciary.

"Looking back later, we would hope that this is when the Cambodian judiciary turned the corner.... But we can't say this solves the problem. One case doesn't make or break a long pattern of deeply entrenched impunity," said Sara Colm of Human Rights Watch.

The intense local and international attention that this case received may have led to a rare set of circumstances where the court could decide on the facts, resulting in a decision that may not be indicative of the judiciary as a whole, Colm said.

"I AM VERY HAPPY AND EXCITED FOR THE COURT’S DECISION TO RELEASE ME ON BAIL."

"The fact that the Supreme Court sent the case back is definitely a very welcome development.... But we don't know what will happen at the Appeal Court."

The US embassy said in a release that it hoped "the appeal court will take up the case expeditiously and finally resolve this matter in a way consistent with Cambodian law and international standards of due process".

Suon Sareth, executive secretary at the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, shared Colm's wait-and-see approach.

"When the Cambodian court has a case like this, they can't abruptly drop it. They delay, delay, delay and hope it will be forgotten. When they say they will conduct a new investigation, they will find nothing, and it will take years," he said.

"But we will follow. We will monitor," he promised. "[This] is only a first step in an independent judiciary."

Happy to be free

As Born Samnang was escorted into a car back to prison while his release papers were being processed, he told reporters: "I am very happy and excited for the court's decision to release me."

Sok Sam Oeun's father, Vuon Phon, told the Post, "I'm so happy my son will be released, and I could see him with a big smile".

In addition to requesting a new investigation into Chea Vichea's killing, Peung Yok Hiep, a lawyer representing Chea Mony, the deceased's brother, requested that the pair receive US$50,000 in civil compensation for their time in jail.

Prosecutor Chhoun Chantha remained adamant about the pair's guilt.

"It's normal for the accused to find ways to fool the court in order for them to be released from punishment," he told reporters after the hearing.

But around the courtroom, he was in the minority.

When Judge Dith Monty, the court president, announced his ruling after the four-hour hearing, the audience outside the courtroom burst into applause, ecstatic that the two men would have another chance at freedom.

"I am delighted about the Supreme Court's decision because it will provide a way for further investigations to seek justice for Chea Vichea," said Rong Chhun, a friend of the slain man, who was gunned down at a newspaper stand in 2004.

Though the convictions were widely and repeatedly condemned by local and international rights organisations, many expressed surprise at the court's announcement, temporarily releasing the men and opening the possibility that they could be freed permanently.

'Strange and surprised'

The executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), Sok Sam Oeun - no relation to the defendant - was stunned.

"I feel strange and surprised because I never trusted the independence of the Supreme Court. I hope this means the judiciary in Cambodia is improving," he said.

Chea Mony, who has condemned the two men's conviction, did not even attend the trial, saying he had lost faith in the Cambodian judicial system.

"However, I now have a newfound confidence in the court system, and I think the investigation at the Appeal Court level will not take as much time as the previous investigation," he said.

The provisional release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun is, said Sok Sam Oeun of the Cambodian Defenders Project, "the first case in our judicial history of a pretrial release following a Supreme Court case".

Cambodia orders review of slain union boss case

Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Reuters

Human rights groups say the two men were framed, pointing to the lack of evidence.

Cambodia's Supreme Court granted bail on Wednesday to two men jailed for the 2004 murder of a prominent union leader and ordered a review of their case, which rights groups say was seriously flawed.

Relatives and friends of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun cheered in the packed courtroom after the judges referred the pair's 2005 convictions for the killing of Chea Vichea to an appeal court for investigation.

"I got bail but the case is not over yet," Born Samnang told Reuters as he left the court to sign his bail papers.

The two were sentenced to 20 years in jail for shooting Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Cambodia's business and political elite, as he read a newspaper at a newstand in Phnom Penh.

An appeal court in 2007 upheld their convictions, a ruling the United Nations called a "grave injustice" that underlined "continuing impunity" in the Southeast Asian nation.

Human rights groups say the two men were framed, pointing to the lack of evidence and glaring holes in the prosecution's arguments. A key witness in their 2005 trial had testified that neither man was present at the shooting.

The pair told the Supreme Court judges their convictions were a result of beaten confessions while in police custody.

The U.N. human rights envoy to Cambodia said Wednesday's court ruling could pave the way for an "in-depth and thorough revision of the entire case, both on matter of fact, law and procedure, so that a real decision of justice is made."