Rainsy party MP seeks justice in son’s killing

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 15:05 Kim Yuthana

Phnom Penh Post

SAM Rainsy Party (SRP) parliamentarian Yont Tharo has again called on police to arrest and bring to justice those accused of shooting his son, Yont Thauron, after a traffic incident in August, and has questioned why a man named in an arrest warrant issued in December has not been brought to court.

Speaking to the Post on Monday, Yont Tharo said that police did not appear to be making any concerted effort to track down his son’s killers.

“So far, the police have not got any clue about the suspect’s whereabouts. I request that the police speed up their work in this case so that justice can be brought to my son,” said Yont Tharo, who represents Banteay Meanchey province.

On the evening of August 9, shots were fired outside a noodle stall near Wat Botum in Daun Penh district’s Chaktomuk commune, just minutes after an argument broke out when Yont Thauron’s car collided with several parked motorbikes.


Yont Thauron, a 25-year-old officer of the Royal Gendarmerie, was killed by two bullets, and three of his companions were seriously injured. On September 1, SRP lawmakers sent a letter to Minister of Interior Sar Kheng requesting that the killer be arrested and brought to face justice. So far no arrest has been made in connection with the case.

An arrest warrant issued on December 9 by Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Yeith Molin, a copy of which has been obtained by the Post, names the main suspect in the killing as Bun Vimul, 30, a police officer in the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Anti-Drug Trafficking. The warrant also lists him as a resident of Daun Penh district’s Boeung Raing commune.

Yont Tharo’s lawyer, Kaet Khy, said that even though the arrest warrant has already been issued by the court, the actual arrest of Bun Vimul is the duty of the police and the military police.

Police officials, however, said they have been unable to locate the man named in the warrant. “After the incident, the murderer managed to escape us until now, taking along with him the gun he used to kill the victim,” said Pou Davy, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh military police.

Moek Dara, director of the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Anti-Drug Trafficking, declined to comment on the Yont Thauron case Monday.