Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 31/12/2008: Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun in a prison van after the hearing at the Supreme Court
© John Vink / Magnum
It is a huge wave of surprise that the Supreme Court of Cambodia created on Wednesday December 31st when it pronounced the provisional release of Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang, two men sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder of charismatic trade union leader Chea Vichea. The Court decided to send the case back to the Court of Appeal, and asked for a re-opening of the investigation. Those present when the verdict was announced, including Human rights campaigners, unionists, relatives of the prisoners, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and UN organisations, were certainly not expecting such a denouement. The public, crowded outside the courtroom, burst into applause when the ruling was pronounced.
A closely-followed judicial story
Organisations for the defence of Human rights and trade unions, both international and Cambodian, had up to the last minute issued many pleas for the liberation of the prisoners. Born Samnang, 28, and Sok Sam Oeun, 40, arrived at the Court closely watched and followed by guards, and firmly asserted once more their innocence before the Supreme Court President Dith Munty, who showed them politeness and respect, manners they had not always seen in front of other Courts.
However, during the four-hour hearing, nothing suggested such a happy ending: at 7pm, both men would be released from prison. The prosecutor in charge of their case in the Supreme Court, Chhoun Chantha, called for the sentence to be maintained since he estimated the evidence to be too insufficient. However, the powerful Judge Dith Munty did not see it that way and followed, as he pointed out, the prosecutor of the Court of Appeal who thought the case was incomplete, and asked for a re-opening of the investigation in order to fill it out. But the Court of Appeal preferred confirming the 20-year sentence ruled by the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh. The Court of Appeal pronounced the verdict on April 12th 2007, but Dith Munty saw it as null and void and justified his stance by saying he acted in respect of the penal procedure and the Constitution. Although they have been released from prison, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are required to remain available, should the Court need them.
Both men spent the last five years in jail for a crime they say they did not commit. The judicial proceedings, riddled with obvious irregularities and violations of the most elementary Human rights, ended with their imprisonment. Many were the organisations and important persons who, concerned about their situation, demanded the liberation of the two men and presented them as scapegoats. The judicial story dragged on but the civil society managed to stay mobilised and active, and the case became the symbol, little by little, of the inefficiency of the Cambodian legal system, undermined by a lack of independence.
Facts in brief
After the assassination in broad daylight of Chea Vichea, murdered by three bullets shot by two strangers on January 22nd 2004, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are charged over homicide and illegal possession of weapons. Their condemnation essentially relies on Born Samnang's confession, which he said was “extracted” out of him.
Devoid of any illusions, Sok Sam Oeun steps toward the court bar, looking dejected. The questioning is brief. He repeats what he has been telling since the beginning of the case, that he has nothing to do with the murder and that he has never met Born Samnang before their first encounter in prison. They both pointed out that they were arrested “without any arrest warrant”.
For his part, Born Samnang stresses that shortly after their arrest, he burst into tears at a press conference, claiming his innocence. “On the day of the assassination, I was not in Phnom Penh but in Neak Loeung, in the Prey Veng province, with my girlfriend. But this did not stop the owner of a guest house in the capital, where I had stayed earlier, from stating that I was still there on January 22nd...”
He mentions the physical violence the police put him through, “forcing [him] to put [his] fingerprint” on a document he did not know the content of, and the threats he received from police officials who promised him he would get off lightly – with only a year of imprisonment – if he confessed the deeds. To motivate his decision, prostitutes were even sent into his cell, he details. “I was very scared. They wanted me to say that I was the murderer and that Sok Sam Oeun was the one who drove the motorbike...”
He denounces before the court the framing he was the victim of on the part of the judicial police when officials dragged him in a wasteland area where the weapon that killed Chea Vichea was surprisingly found... “NGOs for the defence of Human rights, and the King-Father and Queen-Mother themselves declared that I was not guilty. The King-Father asserted that I would be freed one day, and he made donations to my family”, Born Samnang observed.
Chea Vichea family's lawyer urged for his part the authorities to arrest the “true culprits” and claimed on their behalf 50,000 dollars in damages.
Unanimous reactions: between surprise and joy
After the verdict was given, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun's parents said they were too moved to be able to completely express their joy. They thanked the Court of Appeal and congratulated justice, for “serving the interest of citizens”. Rong Chhun, a close friend of Chea Vichea's, also welcomed the ruling, on behalf of Chea Vichea and the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) which the murdered unionist used to lead, and on behalf of the Cambodian Independent Teacher Association, which he chairs. “I would like to believe in a turning point and in the ending, soon, of the reign of impunity in Cambodia”, he commented.
Wasting no time, the CHRAC, a coalition gathering 21 local NGOs, expressed their delight. “It is a very positive and encouraging decision”, the CHRAC wrote in a press release. They are now expecting the Court of Appeal to dismiss the case in order to prove Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun innocent for good, and to find Chea Vichea's true murderers.
The American embassy reacted in turn and called “the Court of Appeal to re-examine the case and resolve the case in compliance with Cambodian law and International standards”. The embassy concluded its communiqué asserting that the new year would be auspicious.
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By Doris
By John Vink
By Doris