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| Chut Wutty |
Life
Wutty was born in Svay Meas village, Vihear Sour commune, Kchlach Kandal district, Kandal, Cambodia. Chut Wutty obtained a Masters Degree in Military Studies from Russia in 1992. After his graduation, Wutty worked for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and as a military trainer at the Ministry of National Defense. In 2003, he was a Deputy Director of Global Witness in Cambodia who acted as a watchdog on the illegal logging all over the country. After the expulsion of Global Witness by the Cambodian government, Wutty founded an organization namely the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG) with financial support from Germany with the focus on the protection of the forest and natural resources in Cambodia.
Death
On 26 April 2012, Wutty was shot dead while escorting two Cambodia Daily journalists near a protected forest in Koh Kong province, where he had repeatedly attempted to expose illegal logging rackets that include military officials. He was 48 years old. The human rights group Licadho immediately dispatched investigators, and the organisation’s Koh Kong provincial coordinator, In Kong Chet, said that after talking to ballistics police, he had established that Chut Wutty was shot as he tried to drive away from the military police. Wutty is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.
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| Chea Vichea |
Chea Vichea was the leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) until his assassination on Chinese New Year, 22 January 2004. Following his death, he was succeeded in his position at the FTUWKC by his younger brother Chea Mony.
Vichea was shot in the head and chest early in the morning while reading a newspaper at a kiosk in Daun Penh district, Phnom Penh. He had recently been dismissed by the INSM Garment Factory (located in the Chum Chao District of Phnom Penh) as a reprisal for helping to establish a trade union at the company. He also had close affiliations with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.
Investigation
A few days after Vichea's killing, and facing mounting criticism for their failure to act, Cambodian authorities arrested two men and charged them with the murder.
The first, Born Samnang, was arrested in Prey Veng Province and transferred to Phnom Penh overnight. He initially admitted to the killing but then publicly retracted, claiming to have been tortured into confessing. Multiple eyewitnesses have placed Born Samnang in a different part of the country at the time of the murder.
The second suspect, Sok Sam Oeun, has consistently denied any involvement and also has alibis placing him in a party with friends at the time of the murder.
The criminal investigation was done by Phnom Penh's Tuol Kork district police and plagued by irregularities. Officers focused on threatening and rounding up those who provided alibis for the suspects, while witnesses were intimidated.'[1]
On 22 March 2004, the case's Investigating Judge, Hing Thirith, threw out the charges against the two men, citing a lack of evidence against them and weak credibility of the police investigation [2]. The next day, Hing Thirith was removed from his position at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and his decision to drop charges was subsequently overturned on 1 June 2004 by the Appeals Court Presiding Judge Thou Mony [3].
The trial took place more than a year after the murder while Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun remained in custody in Phnom Penh, despite a Cambodian legal limitation that no one be detained without trial for longer than six months. The case has been taken up by both national and international organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and ILO.
Trial
On 1 August 2005, the Phnom Penh Municipal Courts delivered a judgment which was highly criticized by both local and international organizations, who deemed it unfair and politically biased rather than based on independent and reasonable judgment.
Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang were judged guilty after a trial where no witnesses testified against the accused and no forensic evidence was brought to court. Both individuals were sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 compensation each to the family of the victim.
Chea Vichea's family turned down the compensation, stating that they did not believe the two convicted were the real murderers.
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| Piseth Pilika |
Oak Eap Pili (February 4, 1965 – July 6, 1999), was a Cambodian ballet dancer and actress. Pilika appeared in hundreds of movies and thousands of karaoke ranging from the 1980s through the 1990s. Her career was brought to a premature end when she was murdered by a gunshot.
Piseth Pilika was very involved in movie making. That was when she met Khai Praseth, also a well-known actor. The two played together in many movies and music videos and in 1990, they became husband and wife. In 1992, their first child was born named Kai Seth Lesak. Piseth Pilika starred in more than sixty movies and was in numerous advertisements. Apart from making movies, she was also very active in stage performance. During her lifetime, she went out to perform in many countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, Denmark, and the United States.
On July 6, 1999, she was shot dead by an unknown gunman while shopping at Orussey Market in Phnom Penh. At 6:30 am on 13 July 1999 she died (UTC+7). In October 1999, following Pisith Pilika's assassination, the French magazine L’Express claimed that the actress’ diary recounted a love affair with
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and pointed to Bun Rany, Hun Sen's wife, as responsible for arranging the shooting; the magazine also claimed that on her deathbed the actress had named Bun Rany to several people. Bun Rany quickly denounced these charges, and announced that she would press charges against L’Express for defamation. No charges were ever brought against l'Express, however.
Source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisith_Pilika