Investigation Chea Vichea

chea vichea s monument in phnom penh, sihanouk blvd, statue

a few days after vichea s killing, , facing mounting criticism failure act, cambodian authorities arrested 2 men , charged them murder.

the first, born samnang, arrested in prey veng province , transferred phnom penh overnight. admitted killing publicly retracted, claiming have been tortured confessing. multiple eyewitnesses have placed born samnang in different part of country @ time of murder.

the second suspect, sok sam oeun, has consistently denied involvement , has alibis placing him in party friends @ time of murder.

the criminal investigation done phnom penh s tuol kork district police , plagued irregularities. officers focused on threatening , rounding provided alibis suspects, while witnesses intimidated. [1]

on 22 march 2004, case s investigating judge, hing thirith, threw out charges against 2 men, citing lack of evidence against them , weak credibility of police investigation [2]. next day, hing thirith removed position @ phnom penh municipal court, , decision drop charges subsequently overturned on 1 june 2004 appeals court presiding judge thou mony [3].

the trial took place more year after murder while born samnang , sok sam oeun remained in custody in phnom penh, despite cambodian legal limitation no 1 detained without trial longer 6 months. case has been taken both national , international organisations, including amnesty international, human rights watch , ilo.