Marcus Brogden
11 July 2016•Update: 12 July 2016
By Neou Vannarin and Julia Wallace
PHNOM PENH
One day after a prominent political commentator was shot dead in what the opposition has called a "state-sponsored assassination”, Cambodia’s prime minister has publicly vowed that authorities will conduct a serious investigation.
As Cambodians continued to express anger and outrage Monday, Hun Sen blasted unnamed opponents he said were trying to “smear” the government over the murder of Kem Ley, and accused his opponents of trying to “incite and lead the nation to chaos” by politicizing the killing.
The issue was not one of politics, but one of gun control, he underlined during a speech at the inauguration of a new military police headquarters in Phnom Penh. “The Cambodian government’s reputation has been seriously affected because of its weakness in protecting the people... I hope our people will give authorities time to conduct a proper investigation and will not make this tragedy into a political issue, ruining our peaceful situation."
Kem Ley, who was also a well-known grassroots organizer who helped form a new political party last year, was shot multiple times as he was having his morning coffee inside a gas station convenience store in Phnom Penh.
A suspect arrested shortly afterwards told police his name was Chuob Somlab -- or “Meet Kill” -- and claimed he was a migrant worker, and had bought a Glock pistol in Thailand with the intention of killing the commentator over a $3,000 debt.
While opposition leaders and many Cambodian compared the murder to that of Chea Vichea, a union leader gunned down by assassins in 2004 as he sat at a newsstand in central Phnom Penh, Hun Sen claimed the situation was like that of Ung Meng Chue, a businessman shot in a fruit shop in 2014, apparently over a business dispute.
He said the cases of Ung Meng Chue and Kem Ley underscored the need for better gun control in Cambodia, and urged authorities to immediately begin prioritizing checking for illegal guns and that they be more careful about apprehending cross-border criminals.
“[We] have to strictly control all kind of weapons and explosive ordnance… but we also need to find a way to stop the trafficking of weapons through our country as well,” he told the assembled military police officers.
A group of 70 Cambodian civil society groups, however, issued a statement expressing outrage at the murder and skepticism at the official version of events.
They called for Kem Ley’s body to be examined by “independent and expert pathologists” as part of a “prompt, independent and thorough investigation”.
“Political tensions are rising in Cambodia ahead of commune elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018,” the statement said.
“It is imperative that the investigation surrounding Kem Ley’s murder be conducted with the utmost transparency if it is to be credible and diffuse misunderstandings, which would impact on the chances of upcoming elections to be free and fair.”
Both the United Nations and the United States State Department have also called for a credible independent investigation.
The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a statement alongside a photograph of Kem Ley smiling beside Ambassador William Heidt.
“Though Dr. Ley’s voice was silenced, we are confident that his spirit was not,” the statement said. “The United States stands by the people of Cambodia in this time of sorrow.”
Cambodians of all backgrounds expressed sorrow and anger over the death on social media, with many changing their Facebook profile pictures to an image marking Kem Ley’s death and sharing pictures of his family.
Hundreds flocked to a pagoda in eastern Phnom Penh where the commentator’s body is laid out, draped in Cambodian flags, to pay their respects.
