Unionist Chea Mony, the brother of murdered labor activist Chea Vichea, said at the weekend that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party would suffer at the polls as a result of ignoring the people’s wishes.
The remarks came as Mony was commemorating the death of Vichea, the former president of the Free Trade Union, who was gunned down at a news stand in Phnom Penh more than a decade ago.
Mony said the government had shown no interest in finding Vichea’s real killer and said it was instances of injustice such as that which would lose the CPP elections.
“Don’t think you are immune from suffering. If it comes to your family, you would want those people arrested and put in jail,” he said.
To the CPP leadership, he said, “This country is not for you to lead alone.”
Yim Sovann, an opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party spokesman, told attendees at the commemoration that his party would continue to advocate for justice in Vichea’s case.
“We will still continue our resistance today, tomorrow, and in the future, looking for justice for the victims who dedicated their lives to the national interest, people’s interest, and workers’ interest,” he said.
General Khieu Sopheak, Interior Ministry spokesman, could not be reached.
Numerous other unsolved killings believed to be politically motivated have gone unsolved in recent years, including the July 10 fatal shooting of political commentator Kem Ley.
Ley was killed shortly after criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s family for using their status to accumulate a vast fortune as detailed in a report by anti-graft group Global Witness.