Prominent Cambodian critic shot dead – police

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (UPDATED) – A prominent Cambodian political analyst known for his trenchant criticism of the government was shot dead morning of Sunday, July 10, at a convenience store, police said.

The daylight slaying of Kem Ley comes at a time of heightened tensions between strongman premier Hun Sen and the country’s political opposition, who accuse the prime minister of launching a fresh crackdown against them.

Police said Kem Ley, a popular commentator and grassroots campaigner, was gunned down as he drank coffee at a convenience store attached to a gas station in the capital Phnom Penh.

“He was shot dead at a mart just before 9am,” Kirt Chantharith, national police spokesman, told Agence France-Presse.

A suspect was arrested nearby and confessed to killing the analyst over an unpaid debt, Kirt Chantharith said.

“But we don’t believe him yet. We are working on this case,” he added.

Cambodia has a long a tragic history of rights and labor advocates being murdered with their killers rarely brought to justice.

An Agence France-Presse photographer at the scene said Kem Ley’s body lay in a large pool of blood below a metal table inside the convenience store.

Hundreds of onlookers had gathered as police cordoned off the area. One group of women were in tears, others were visibly angry. His heavily pregnant wife also rushed to the scene and could be seen sobbing outside the store.

Local media showed pictures of the alleged suspect being taken into custody. He appeared injured with blood running down the left-hand side of his face.

Simmering tensions

The killing will do little to lower already simmering tensions inside the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, which has been dominated by Hun Sen for the past 31 years in a reign marred by accusations of corruption, electoral fraud and rampant rights abuses.

Scores of government critics and rights workers have been arrested in recent months while others have been tied up in ongoing legal cases.

Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, described the assassination as “a vulgar and cruel act that is unacceptable”.

“His killing will further deepen the complexity of the political situation,” he told Agence France-Presse, adding that all sides of Cambodia’s political divide needed to remain calm.

The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party described the murder as a “heinous” act and called on the authorities to bring those involved to justice.

Britain’s ambassador in Phnom Penh Bill Longhurst said the killing was “a serious loss to Cambodia”.

Kem Ley was critical of both the government and opposition parties, advocating for a new era of clean politics in a notoriously corrupt nation which is expected to hold a general election in 2018.

But the bulk of his criticism was aimed at Hun Sen’s ruling party.

The prime minister, a former army commander who defected from the Khmer Rouge, has held power alongside a small but powerful coterie of political allies that have become enormously wealthy.

A report published by Global Witness last week detailed how Hun Sen’s family alone had amassed a multi-million-dollar business empire spanning the impoverished country’s most lucrative sectors during his rule.

Last week Kem Ley gave a lengthy radio interview welcoming the report, saying it would enable both local voters and foreign investors to have a better idea of how Cambodia’s political elite have become so rich. – Rappler.com