Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Murdered reporter's family: police probe not transparent

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 02 December 2008

A lack of information into the investigation of Khim Sambo's death has raised fears about its progress, family members, monitors say

FAMILY members of slain opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his 18-year-old son have expressed anger at the lack of transparency in the investigation of their deaths.

"It is really unjust for the victim. The relatives of the victims never receive any information on how [the investigation] is going," Khim Laurent, Khim Sambo's brother, told the Post Monday. He added that he had never received information from police on the state of the investigation.

Chan Soveth, a monitor for rights group Adhoc, said that despite repeated requests for information, he had also been shunned, with police declining to reveal any details of the case.

"We do not know how it has developed so far," he said. "We have asked for information, but police have tried to hide it from us."

Khim Sambo, who wrote for Moneaksekar Khmer, a daily paper affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was gunned down while on a motorbike with his 21-year-old son Khat Sarinpheata outside the Olympic Stadium.

Phnom Penh deputy police commissioner Hy Prou, who is in charge of the investigation, said that the probe was progressing but had been slow because of delays caused by the Water Festival and the death of the National Police Chief Hok Lundy.

"We have not completed our work yet," he told the Post Sunday.

John Johnson, a spokesman for the US embassy, said that the FBI, which joined the investigation in August, was making progress. "The investigation is ongoing," he said via email Monday.

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