Source: RFA
The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) is planning to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the 1997 grenade attacks which killed 16 people and wounded more than 100 people, reports Radio Free Asia.
On 30th March 1997, four hand grenades were thrown into a crowd of protesters led by the Khmer Nation Party, the precursor of the SRP. Mr. Sam Rainsy, president of the then Khmer Nation Party, was slightly injured and an American, Ron Abney who works for the American International Republican Institute (IRI), was seriously injured. All fingers were pointing to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his bodyguard units deployed at the scene during the protests.
Mr. Yim Sovan, spokesman for the SRP, said it was a crime that should not be forgotten. "We must commemorate this event every year because up until now, the murderers were never brought to justice. So, we must commemorate this event, in order to pay tribute to those heroic protesters who had sacrificed their lives. And it is an opportunity for us to call on the government to find the perpetrators who were behind the attacks and bring them to justice", he said.
Ny Chakriya, investigator for the human rights group Adhoc, also criticised the lack of progress in the investigation, 13 years after the attacks. "It (this case) is different from other cases. Sometimes, we saw that it only takes 2-3 weeks for the identikits of the suspects to drawn, but it is very strange for this case that after more than 10 years, the perpetrators still have not been found yet", he said.
Gen. Keat Chantharith, spokesman for the Cambodian National Police, said the case is still open and the investigation is still ongoing.
The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got involved in the investigations but pulled out because of the lack of cooperations from the Cambodian authority and because of a personal threat to the safety of its investigators working in Cambodia who had received death threats. The FBI's initial reports found the involvements of Mr. Hun Sen's Bodyguard Unit in the attacks.
During the attacks, witnesses said that they saw the grenade throwers ran into the military compound of the bodyguard Unit of Prime Minister Hun Sen. When they gave chase, Mr. Hun Sen's bodyguards threatened them with guns and then let the grenade throwers slipped through and hid in the compound.
On 30th March 1997, four hand grenades were thrown into a crowd of protesters led by the Khmer Nation Party, the precursor of the SRP. Mr. Sam Rainsy, president of the then Khmer Nation Party, was slightly injured and an American, Ron Abney who works for the American International Republican Institute (IRI), was seriously injured. All fingers were pointing to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his bodyguard units deployed at the scene during the protests.
Mr. Yim Sovan, spokesman for the SRP, said it was a crime that should not be forgotten. "We must commemorate this event every year because up until now, the murderers were never brought to justice. So, we must commemorate this event, in order to pay tribute to those heroic protesters who had sacrificed their lives. And it is an opportunity for us to call on the government to find the perpetrators who were behind the attacks and bring them to justice", he said.
Ny Chakriya, investigator for the human rights group Adhoc, also criticised the lack of progress in the investigation, 13 years after the attacks. "It (this case) is different from other cases. Sometimes, we saw that it only takes 2-3 weeks for the identikits of the suspects to drawn, but it is very strange for this case that after more than 10 years, the perpetrators still have not been found yet", he said.
Gen. Keat Chantharith, spokesman for the Cambodian National Police, said the case is still open and the investigation is still ongoing.
The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got involved in the investigations but pulled out because of the lack of cooperations from the Cambodian authority and because of a personal threat to the safety of its investigators working in Cambodia who had received death threats. The FBI's initial reports found the involvements of Mr. Hun Sen's Bodyguard Unit in the attacks.
During the attacks, witnesses said that they saw the grenade throwers ran into the military compound of the bodyguard Unit of Prime Minister Hun Sen. When they gave chase, Mr. Hun Sen's bodyguards threatened them with guns and then let the grenade throwers slipped through and hid in the compound.
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