Military officials accused of beatings

via CAAI

Wednesday, 10 November 2010 15:01 Mom Kunthear

A MAN in Banteay Meanchey province has filed a complaint with local rights group Adhoc, accusing military police of beating him and his family and stealing 1 million riels (US$240).

Ny Thea, 35, said he was travelling with his wife and brother to Pailin to visit his mother on Sunday, when a car rammed into him to force him to stop.

“I didn’t stop because I thought they were robbers,” he said, noting that the driver was not wearing a military uniform.

He said he kept driving until military police blocked the road and fired several shots into the air. He said when he stopped the car, his wife and brother attempted to flee with a bag containing 7.4 million riels.

“They then fought my wife and brother, and they beat me unconscious,” he said.

When his brother went to retrieve the bag afterwards, he said, 1 million riels was missing.

Srouy Pen, chief of the provinicial military serious crimes bureau, denied the charges.

“We blocked the car because we received information from provincial police that they hit another car and drove away,” he said. “We can sue them for wrongly accusing us.”