CCIM recently filed an appeal of a November 2014 court order that dismissed the organization’s complaint in the May 2014 beating of VOD journalist Lay Samean.
CCIM sent the appeal to the Phnom Penh Appeals Court on Feb. 5, 2015, on the grounds that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s dismissal of the complaint was not acceptable according to Cambodian law.
“The court decision was not reasonable,” said CCIM Legal Counsel Sek Sophorn. “They dismissed our complaint by explaining that we do not have enough evidence, but actually we have; Samean was beaten by the security guards hired by Phnom Penh Municipality, so Phnom Penh governor and Daun Penh District governor shall be responsible.”
The letter dismissing CCIM’s complaint, which was signed by Deputy Prosecutor Meas Chanpiseth on Nov. 26, 2014, but only received by CCIM in late December, states that CCIM’s complaint was not upheld. The letter gave the organization two months to appeal but failed to outline the reasons for dismissal.
CCIM originally filed a complaint with the court on May 28, 2014, just weeks after Samean was seriously injured by Daun Penh District security guards while covering an election march on May 2 near Freedom Park. During the march, security guards violently dispersed the marchers, and between six and ten guards attacked Samean after he attempted to photograph them beating a monk. The attack left Samean with a broken cheekbone and extensive injuries to his eye and mouth — injuries that necessitated a complicated facial reconstruction surgery in Bangkok. In its suit, CCIM seeks $30,000 USD in compensation for medical costs and for Samean’s emotional and mental duress.
