"Kem Ley case ‘remains open’ two years on", 10 July 2018

While commemorations are set to be held … to mark the second anniversary of the slaying of political analyst Kem Ley, the investigating judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court has said the case is still open.

Ley, 45, was shot twice with a Glock handgun at a Caltex petrol station cafe in the capital’s Monivong Boulevard on July 10, 2016.

Oeut Ang, the man arrested some 20 minutes later, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being convicted of murder.

Ang, who upon his arrest called himself Choub Samlab, which means “meet to kill” in Khmer, said he shot Ley over a $3,000 debt – claims dismissed by Ley’s family.

Seng Leang, the investigative judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, who is handling an additional investigation into the murder, told … that the case is still open.

“We are investigating the case and it is not closed as yet. It is part of the investigation so I cannot say,” Leang replied when asked how many people were under investigation. He declined further comment.

… The Bangkok-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) … reiterated its call to establish an independent and impartial commission to investigate the case.

“The trial of Ang left many unanswered questions about the investigation and the killing itself, which Cambodia has a duty to resolve as part of the family’s and the public’s right to know the truth,” said Kingsley Abbott, a senior legal adviser at the ICJ.