Gen. Chhoeun Chanthorn appeared in court on Monday morning.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Tep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post
The chief of Senate president Chea Sim’s bodyguard unit is expected to be sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court today to face charges including the illegal possession of firearms following his arrest on Saturday.
Dozens of military police surrounded Chhoeun Chanthan’s large villa in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kang III commune on Friday night in preparation for a raid that took place about 8am on Saturday.
After the arrest, authorities displayed weapons and hundreds of bullets to local media before taking four suspects away in military trucks.
Three bodyguards who lived with 41-year-old Chhoeun Chanthan were also apprehended. They were named in a military police statement as Pak Sier, 40, Chum Sros, 38, and Pov Meunchan, 27.
Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said yesterday the four had been arrested for “secretly keeping illegal weapons”, but declined to elaborate.
The statement said 12 guns and 1,420 bullets had been found in the house belonging to Chhoeun Chanthan, who is also known as “Mao”, as in kmao, or “black”.
Prime Minister Hun Sen named Chhoeun Chanthan during a speech in January, 2010 in which he warned that military officials involved in corrupt activity would be sacked.
“I don’t care how many stars or moons you have – I will fire you, and nobody will keep corrupt commanders in their seats,” the premier said at the time.
“In Cambodia, the prime minister directly controls the troops.”
In addition to Chhoeun Chanthan, Hun Sen said several other high-ranking officials were corrupt: Sum Samnang, director-general of logistics and finance at the Ministry of Defence; Chao Phirun, director-general of the military’s materials and technical services department; and Ung Samkhan, commander of the Cambodian navy, who was later removed from his posit-ion and replaced by Defence Minister Tea Banh’s younger brother, Tea Vinh.
Hun Sen was quick to approve a replacement for the arrested chief bodyguard. On Saturday, a sub- decree was released naming his replacement as Yim Leang, who was given the rank of three-star general.
Yim Leang has served in Chea Sim’s bodyguard for at least a decade and has close ties to the Prime Minister. He attained the rank of general in 2001, at the age of 28, becoming the country’s youngest. His father is Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Li, and his sister, Yim Chhay Lin, is married to Hun Sen’s son Hun Many.
10 comments:
it sounds like chea sim trust the new guy than the old one. it has nothing to do with power struggle. same cpp and keep power in close circle.
Folks, don't be fool. This is not power struggle. This is just part of the scheme to do house cleaning and shake up in case there are potential threat. Chea Sim and Hun Sen loves each other very much. They will never break apart like other wishful thinker. Dont jump inot sharky water; you will be eaten.
This moron, three star gen can't even read phnom penh city map...How'ta hell he end up gaining three star general promo..?? Damn man! Too many corrupted officials...
Cambodian Govt should track down those official who can't read and write...It make me sick!
LAWless country like cambdia very easy for crooked people to do whatever they want...Money will fix everything! Unless, the law is so strong like abroad...
Every where in the world is about the same as Cambodia, but it is more convincing to talk about Cambodia than the West !!!
Does any body know what is going on in London, England ?????
How do the police treat the protesters ???
Another way to prove this, you can try to bid the job with the US Gov. without any connection !!!
Let see if you can get any thing !!!
All people are about the same, we are all human !!!
China's past was the same as Cambodia !
But, how many Chinese that you can find, who is thinking about the past ????
I bet you can't find any, because all of them are busy thinking about the future !!!
Think about it, which way is more productive !!!!
It is a power struggle. Chea Sim's days are numbered. Hun Sun surrounds him with his loyalists to watch when and if Chea Sim want to do anything behind him like staging a coup. Chea Sim did not trust the new bodyguard than the old one. Hun Sen just appoint him to watch Chea Sim or to kill Chea Sim in the future when and if the Chea Sim faction wanted to topple Hun Sen.
Remember, the old bodyguard was a trusted confidant of Chea Sim, but the new guy is an in-law of Hun Sen's family. Just watch, after the 2013 election all the Chea Sim clan, including Sar Kheng, Say Chhum, Ke Kim Yan and even Chea Sim himself, is finished. Hun sen will kick all of them out of the government or just give them unimportant positions.
To the comment above; I will watch and see. Who are you trying to fool? Cambodian are smart enough to know the trap. This is just a trap to get opposition into a cage. Why Chea Sim fight now after 3 decades rules by PM Hun Sen? It doesnt make sense for them to fight each other. Opposition loves to see they fight but it is not going to happen. Kids, dont be fooled. Stay home, do your business and work hard to raise your family.
11:11 AM, It is lucky that Chea Sim never fought back since 1993 when Chea Sim's loyalists like Sin Song, Sin Sin and others were sacked and arrested. Then Ke Kim Yan was sacked, then Hun Hean and Moek Dara, then now Chea Sim's most trusted confidant is sacked and arrested. But, if Chea Sim chose to fight back it will be all hell breaks loose already. Now, the question is how much more patience does Chea Sim and his clan have left? Maybe they can't beat Hun sen in a face to face fighting, but they can surely kill Hun Sen in a series of secret plots of assassinations. Hun Sen might not live to 90 as he wished, he will be assassinated by his enemies, especially his internal enemies, before then.
After 2013 election, Chea Sim, if he is still alive because he is a diabetic, might not be the senate president anymore and Sar Kheng might not be interior minister anymore and Say Chhum might not be secretary general of the ruling CPP anymore. They might just get minor and unimportant positions, they will be at Hun Sen's mercy.
It only happens in Cambodia, to protect a corrupt headman requires one corrupt battallion of arm forces.
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