Cambodian court orders release of pair jailed for killing activist
Pair spent over five years in prison for murder of leading labour activist
Cambodia's Supreme Court ordered the release of two men yesterday who were wrongly convicted and jailed for the 2004 murder of an opposition activist.
The court's decision to drop all charges came amid renewed calls to free the men, whom leading international rights groups have called scapegoats in the murder of Chea Vichea and one of many examples of the country's corrupt judicial system.
"We are very happy with this result, but this should not be the end," Cambodia's leading human rights groups said in a joint statement. "It should be the opportunity to properly look into one of the most tragic deaths in Cambodia's recent history."
Chea Vichea was the leader of Cambodia's largest labour union, the Free Trade Union of Workers, and an outspoken critic of government corruption and human rights abuses.
He was gunned down in broad daylight on January 22, 2004 at a roadside newsstand in Phnom Penh after having received numerous death threats for his work as a labour organiser.
Within a week, two men - Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun - were arrested. The investigation that followed sparked a local and international outcry, as did the trial. None of the prosecution witnesses appeared, providing only written testimonies that could not be challenged in court.