Kem Ley: Breaking down the façade of justice

In June 2015, Kem Ley announced his initiative to set up the Khmer for Khmer Party, later named the Grassroots Democratic Party (GDP). On 2 August, the GDP was formally established after its inaugural congress in Phnom Penh, but Kem Ley was not involved in any leadership role. The GDP was formed to promote a more democratic political system and is based on a bottom-up ‘intraparty democracy’ model, meaning that the party is comprised of grassroots, commune-level chapters.

From May 2016, Kem Ley had been working on what he called the ‘100 Nights Campaign’. During a vast tour of the country, including home stays with rural families, he sought to explore and document the deep-rooted problems faced by Cambodian society, such as economic land concessions granted to corporations. Since the start of the campaign, Kem Ley had reportedly been offered bribes of money and positions of power and had even been threatened with death.

On 7 July, Global Witness released a report titled ‘Hostile Takeover’. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was criticized in this report for abusing his power to allow his family to take control of over one hundred corporations and accumulate vast amounts of wealth. It revealed a vast business empire, including interests in the mining, real estate, and gambling sectors. Kem Ley discussed this report just two days before his death in an interview with Radio Free Asia. Kem Ley stressed that the report was reliable, but didn’t uncover the whole truth, suggesting that elites have much more control and power of the economy than it stated. He also criticized Hun Sen’s ‘culture of not taking responsibility’, hinting that there would be no need for denial of the report’s findings if these businesses were legitimate, fully compliant with applicable laws and regulations, and paid their taxes in full. Moreover, he argued that Hun Sen would not need to suppress the work of NGOs if he had nothing to hide.

On 10 July 2016 at 09:02, Kem Ley was shot in his head and chest at Coffee Plus, a café which is part of the Caltex Bokor gasoline station in central Phnom Penh. Caltex is wholly owned by multi-national energy company Chevron. As Oeuth Ang fled the scene of the crime, video footage revealed that a police officer on a motorbike suspiciously pulled up alongside him to exchange words multiple times, yet made no effort to make an arrest. Moreover, Oeuth Ang was followed by another motorbike, which appeared to carry a passenger armed with an AK-47. The man carrying the rifle later jumped into an SUV, which continued to follow Oeuth Ang.

On 24 July, up to hundreds of thousands of Cambodians took to the streets to pay their respects and celebrate the life of Kem Ley. The convoy carrying his glass casket slowly passed through the capital to his home province of Takeo. As the procession made its way through the streets, many protestors waved anti-government posters.

Throughout July, Bou Rachna, the widow of Kem Ley, expressed her fears over the safety of her family. On 31 August, she and her four children fled Cambodia. At this time, she was pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. Bou Rachna’s application for asylum in another country is still pending, despite widespread concerns that her current living situation is having a severely detrimental effect on the education and wellbeing of her five young children.

In July, Thak Lany was recorded on video stating that Hun Sen was behind the killing of Kem Ley. On 17 November, she was convicted of defamation and incitement in absentia and sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Thak Lany has remained in self-imposed exile in Europe since the suit was originally filed by Hun Sen, leaving an unfilled seat in the Senate.

On 13 December, Sam Rainsy filed a request that Chevron release all CCTV footage taken of the Caltex Bokor petrol station premises between 1 and 14 July. This request also called on the release of documents identifying all employees of the petrol station. The request was made to district court in the U.S. By February, a subpoena was finally issued demanding that Chevron release the CCTV footage of the murder of Kem Ley. However, in April, Chevron filed a motion to repeal this subpoena on the basis that they had no footage. Sam Rainsy has repeatedly attempted to challenge this motion.

On 10 January, Al Jazeera 101 East released a documentary focusing on the killing of Kem Ley. This documentary characterized the murder as a ‘political assassination’ and strongly alluded that it was orchestrated by the state. It also voiced heavy doubt about many elements of the case, such as the claim of an unpaid debt of $3,000 and the alleged relationship between Oeuth Ang and Kem Ley. It moreover revealed that several witnesses, all of whom were too scared to talk on screen, reported the occurrence of a meeting between senior military and district officials and Oeuth Ang a week before the murder of Kem Ley in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province. Mann Sokhab, the district police chief of Angkor Chum, Siem Reap, denied such claims following the release of the documentary.

On 17 February, Kim Sok was charged with defamation and incitement and sent to prison, just two days after claiming the government was responsible for the murder of Kem Ley during an interview with Radio Free Asia. He shouted “I’m not afraid so you should all not be afraid” to hundreds of his supporters following questioning at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. In June, he then used a bail hearing against his ongoing detention to further accuse Hun Sen of orchestrating the murder of Kem Ley. On 10 August, he was convicted to one and a half years under these charges.

On 1 March, Oeuth Ang was put on trial at Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The trial commenced at 08:00 and concluded at 13:00, with oral testimonies from seven officials involved in the investiga-tion, two employees of Caltex, and the doctor who examined the body of Kem Ley. The prosecution also played CCTV footage and read out statements from various civil parties and witnesses of the murder, including a testimony from Bou Rachna. Oeuth Ang fully confessed to the murder. On 23 March, he was found guilty of premeditated murder and the unauthorized holding or transporting of weapons under the Cambodian Criminal Code.

The one-year anniversary of Kem Ley’s murder saw heartfelt commemorations in his hometown of Tram Kak, Takeo and in central Phnom Penh. On 9 July, hundreds of family members, friends, and supporters gathered in white tents surrounding his childhood home to pay their respects. On 10 July in Phnom Penh, events saw human rights activists dressed in black demanding justice at the site of the killing.

On Wednesday, 26 July, Kim Sok was tried on charges of incitement and defamation by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. During the trial, Kim Sok walked out of the courtroom in protest before being returned by guards. The hearing lasted two hours and Kim Sok spent the majority of the trial with paper balls in his ears to protest the illegitimacy of the proceedings and the court. After the trial, Kim Sok condemned the court, saying it “only follows the dirty words of Hun Sen”.

On Friday 4 August, Chevron received a subpoena signed by judge Donna Ryu of the U.S. district court of Northern California, compelling them to produce a range of documents and evidence related to the killing of Kem Ley. The subpoena all employees who may have had contact with the Cambodian authorities to turn over any company records or devices containing information related to the killing. Chevron were given a deadline of 25 August to respond.