Cambodian Court Acquits Two in Slaying of Journalist
A Cambodian provincial court today dropped charges against a military police officer and his wife accused of murdering a reporter investigating the country's illegal timber trade, drawing protests from the journalist's wife and from human rights and environmental advocacy groups. ... Hang Serei Oudom, a reporter for the Vorakchun Khmer newspaper, had been looking into claims of illegal logging and extortion when he went missing on Sept. 10, 2012. His battered body was found two days later in the trunk of his car. Military police captain An Bunheng and his wife were taken into custody the next day after police and a court prosecutor said they had found evidence linking them to the crime at the couple’s restaurant in Cambodia’s northeastern Ratanakiri province. After questioning three witnesses and reviewing written statements from another seven, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court dropped all charges against the pair, citing a lack of evidence sufficient to win a conviction against them. ... Defense lawyer Heng Sotheara meanwhile applauded the verdict freeing his clients, while deputy prosecutor Chea Sopheak said he had not yet decided whether to appeal the court’s ruling. ... Rights groups had called for a thorough investigation into Hang Serei Oudom’s death, noting that the journalist had written about influential people, including businessmen and provincial officials involved in the trafficking of luxury wood. ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/acquits-08282013145944.html
