Armed Man at Rally Claimed to Be ‘Samdech Bodyguard’
A man apprehended by participants at a rally in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Sunday after he was spotted carrying a concealed pistol, signed himself into Calmette Hospital by listing his occupation as “Samdech Bodyguard,” in apparent reference to one of the three leaders of the CPP: Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim or National Assembly President Heng Samrin. Chaos erupted on Sunday when the armed man was confronted at the opposition-aligned Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) rally, where several leading opposition CNRP members were in attendance, leading to fears the man, identified as 38-year-old Poeurng Choeurn, was intending an assassination attempt. … But conflicting accounts emerged after the incident about the identity of Poeurng Choeurn, who was wearing a press identification card and had been taking photographs of monks at the rally before he pushed to the front of the crowd and was wrestled to the ground and disarmed. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith also denied that the Information Ministry sent any armed men to opposition-aligned rallies. But deputy Phnom Penh police chief Chuon Narin later told reporters that Poeurng Choeurn was in fact an undercover police agent who had permission to carry a weapon because he was on assignment at Freedom Park. Yet staff from the Cambodia Daily on Monday saw the signed, handwritten check-in details of Poeurng Choeurn at Calmette Hospital, in which he stated that his occupation was a “Samdech bodyguard.” Samdech is the high honorific title largely reserved for use by Mr. Hun Sen, Mr. Sim and Mr. Heng Samrin. … CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said that they had received no updates on why the man had been armed at the rally, while CITA president and outspoken CNRP supporter Roung Chhun, who led the rally, said his organization remained in the dark.
Mech Dara and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/armed-man-at-rally-claimed-to-be-samdech-bodyguard-45091/
