• Society

Srey Sina Charged with Murder and Unauthorized Use of Firearm

• By Meng Seavmey
• June 23, 2024 6:00 PM

PHNOM PENH — The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged Srey Sina with the murder of two people, the murder attempt on two other people on June 17, and for unauthorized use of firearm. The two individuals who had been arrested along with Sina were released after being found not guilty of the crime.

According to the court’s announcement on June 22, Srey Sina was reported to have rented a flat in Borey Peng Huoth Boeung Snor—a private house-flat community located in Chbar Ampov district in Phnom Penh—to Seng Chansophat and San Sreypich. On June 14, Sreypich had an argument with Long Lysong, who was one of the victims shot to death, regarding territory invasion of cloth drying rack, flower pots, and mango tree branches.

Sreypich asked her landlord Srey Sina to intervene. On June 17, Sina came with a car uber driver named San Sokchamroeun to Lysong’s house, where the crime happened, to talk about the conflict. The talk led to another argument, then Sina shot Lysong several times, killing him on the spot. Khin Kanhchna, the fiancée, rushed to Lysong but also got shot three times. She was reported to pass away while being taken to the hospital.  

The other two people who were working with Lysong survived the shooting, ending up with leg and arm injuries. Following this, Sina asked for a ride from a stranger, namely Tin Touch, to the parking lot. Both San Sokchamroeun and Tin Touch were released after being questioned by the police as they did not have any involvement in the crime.

The court has divided the crime into two cases. In the first case, the court charged Srey Sina with the killing of two people. Therefore, the court charged him with “murder” and “unauthorized use of firearm” under Article 199 of the Criminal Code and Article 20 of the Law on the Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition.

In the second case, the court charged Srey Sina for injuring two other people. The court also charged him with “assassination attempt” and “unauthorized use of firearm” under Article 27 and Article 199 of the Criminal Code, and Article 20 of the Law on the Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition.

The defendant will face up to 15 years in prison for the first case, and 15 years in prison for the second case, according to the court’s announcement on June 23.

Article 199 of the Criminal Code states that “’Murder’ shall mean the willful killing of another person with or without a weapon with no aggravating circumstances within the meaning of Article 200 (Definition of premeditated murder) to Article 205 (Murder accompanied by torture, cruelty or rape) of this Code. Murder shall be punishable by imprisonment from ten to fifteen years.”

Moreover, Article 20 of the Law on the Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition stipulates that “those who equip, carry, possess, utilize, sell, purchase, lend, transfer, hire, fabricate, improvise and repair weapons, explosive and ammunition of any and all types shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine from 500,000 riels to 2,000,000 riels [approximately $125 to $500].”

Account of the killing went viral on social media, with dozens of publications paying tribute to the young couple who was supposed to soon get married. While some people were calling for the punishment of Srey Sina, some others stressed is ‘oknha” title.

Responding to criticism, the Cambodian Oknha Association—whose duty is to promote investments among people holding oknha titles—issued a statement on June 18 on its Facebook page to clarify that Srey Sina was not a member of the association. The association then requested to remove Srey Sina’s title of oknha, which was done through a royal decree on June 20.

Following this affair, social analysts have called on the government to consider creating a system to monitor individuals who are allowed to use weapons due to their duties and to take action against those who use weapons to harm civilians.