Cambodian government vows to find journalist's murderer

Jul 31, 2008, 12:00 GMT

Phnom Penh - Cambodian authorities would not rest until they found the killer of opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his son, a minister said Thursday.

Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith called the shooting murder of Sambo and his son in the capital at the peak of national election campaigning in July 'embarassing' and said the government was determined to bring the killers to justice.

'We will not rest until we die or catch the perpetrators,' Kanharith said.

Kanharith, himself a former journalist, personally attended a memorial for the 47-year-old journalist for the opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer and his son Khat Sarinpheata on July 13 after they were shot at point blank range on a busy street in the capital.

The killings caused an international outcry, coming so close to Sunday's national elections resoundingly won by Kanharith's Cambodian People's Party, and the opposition and groups such as Human Rights Watch dubbed it a clear case of intimidation.

The government is adamant it had nothing to do with the murders, but its vow to catch the killers has been greeted with skepticism by the opposition and human rights campaigners.

A similar promise to catch the killers of union leader Chea Vichea after he was slain in similar fashion resulted in the arrests and convictions of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun in 2004 - two formerly minor criminals who both appeared to have air-tight alibis but were convicted regardless and sentenced to 20 years jail each.