Senior military policeman released, bodyguard detained [A culture of impunity of the rich and powerful]

PHNOM PENH, 8 October 2012 (Cambodia Herald) - Phnom Penh Municipal Court released a senior military policeman Monday but kept his bodyguard detained after they were accused of blocking a police investigation.

Sources said Major General Hak Mao and Lieutenant Colonel Keo Tong were arrested and sent to court Sunday on the orders of an investigating judge.

The arrests followed a raid on Hak Mao's house in Tuol Kork district Thursday and the arrest of 20-year-old tenant Hout Voleap who is suspected of buying drugs.

The sources said Keo Tong and about five other armed bodyguards threatened to handcuff police and court officials if they did not release the young man.

Hak Mao said he had just ordered the bodyguards to see what was going on at the house.