Cambodian Center for Human
Rights - Human Rights Defender Alert
Confusions reigns in Chut Wutty case as company security guard is
charged with two counts of manslaughter
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Date:
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4 May 2012
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Name:
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Chut Wutty
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Category of activist:
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Environmental activist, Director of the Natural Resource
Protection Group
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Location:
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Koh Kong
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According
to Khmer language media outlet Daum Ampil
Rann Boroth, a 31 year old reported to
be a security guard with Timbergreen, a company involved in logging in Koh Kong
province, has been charged with the killings of environmental activist Chut
Wutty and military police officer In Ratana. Chut Wutty and In Ratana were shot
dead on 26th April in an incident after the car Chut Wutty was travelling
in with two journalists was stopped in Koh Kong province while gathering
evidence of illegal logging.
A great
deal of uncertainty surrounds the deaths of the two men and the response of the
authorities. On 27th April, the military police issued a report which
stated that Wutty had been killed by In Ratana who subsequently turned his
weapon, an AK-47, on himself, committing suicide by shooting himself twice in
the chest. This explanation was roundly dismissed by human rights groups. On
the same day, Kheng Tito, a military police spokesman, stated that the case
would be closed and that further investigation was unlikely as the perpetrator
had died.
Yesterday,
The Phnom Penh Post reported that
Rann Baroth had been detained as a suspect in the case (‘Timbergreen
official questioned in Chut Wutty Shooting’). Daum Ampil reports that Rann Boroth has been charged with two
counts of manslaughter under Article 207 of the Penal Code. Manslaughter in
Cambodian law is a misdemeanour punishable by between one and three years imprisonment
and a fine of between two and six million Riels ($500 - $1,250 USD).
For more information,
please contact: Ou Virak, CCHR President,
telephone: +855 12 40 40 51; email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.
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