Cambodian government accused of staging explosion in Phnom Penh

Cambodian authorities have been accused of staging a grenade explosion to distract public attention from an investigation into the assassination of a prominent opposition commentator.

Kem Ley, opposition commentator shot dead. Photo: Phnom Penh Post

The timing of a grenade explosion that injured at least three people earlier this month, as well as the military deployment outside the headquarters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was no coincidence, Kem Rithisith, the younger brother of prominent opposition commentator Kem Ley, said last weekend.

“They are trying to make people forget” the assassination investigation, he added, according to Cambodia Daily.

Commentator Kem Ley was shot at a convenience store in Phnom Penh in July.The man accused of assassinating Mr. Kem Leywas Oeuth Ang, a former soldier and monk who had left his village in Siem Reap province about a week before the killing.

The investigation has not been made public. Ang was questioned at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, but court spokesman Ly So-pha-na was tight-lipped.

"We questioned him after finding more evidence. We cannot say anything more as the investigation is still ongoing," he said.

Mr. Rithisith said that the Cambodian government clearly had no interest in finding the real killer of his brother.

"I could see that they were not taking the job seriously," he added. "I think it might be because the mastermind was too powerful."

Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesman Chhum Sucheat denied Mr. Rithisith's accusation.

"The military was mobilized because we knew that the opposition party had announced plans for a protest, so we needed to deploy to ensure the security of the people," General Sucheat said, referring to the incident in which dozens of military vehicles surrounded the CNRP headquarters on the night of September 12.

“These are different cases,” he added. “The Kem Ley case was a murder and the government has found the culprit.”

The scene of the explosion in Phnom Penh on September 6. Photo: Chan Thul Prak

According to VNE