The Justice Ministry will amend the Criminal Code, particularly the “aggravating” circumstances of a criminal offense relating to murder, following public outcry over the charges brought against tycoon Srey Sina who carried out a brutal shooting.
Former Oknha Sina was arrested in Kandal province on June 17 after fleeing a crime scene which left Long Lysong, 27, and his fiancée Khin Kanchana, 26, dead, and two others injured in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district.
The King stripped Sina of his honorific Oknha title three days after the alleged killing following a request by Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The ministry held a press conference on the issue on Wednesday regarding the legal action at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court where Sina has been charged with three counts of murder, attempted murder and unauthorized use of a weapon.
“The press conference is not to protect the court, because, assuming judges violated the laws, they would be punished accordingly,” Minister Koeut Rith said.
The purpose of the press conference was to make clear to the public the law on “brutal murder” as some public analyses were made in accordance with the law but some were influenced by emotions.
He explained that there are “three types of a murder” in the Criminal Code, which are “unintentional murder, attempted murder and premeditated murder”.
“We all clearly know that this culprit [Sina] killed people. Secondly, the prosecutor has charged [him] based on the facts and the law,” Rith said.
“In a brutal case like this, the legal institutions have thoroughly worked and [acted] responsibly to ensure that the killer doesn’t get off easily, and there’ll be no reduced sentences,” he added.
He thanked the prosecutor, who split the case into two parts, therefore there will be two verdicts against the perpetrator. He will face a sentence of 15 years in prison for each crime, running consecutively.
“When [he has served] one sentence for one verdict, he will continue with the next one [sentence],” Rith said.
“I would like to clarify that if this person [Sina] is not prosecuted or if he is freed after two or three years of being in jail as the public said, then I will be the first person held responsible. I will walk out and not work as a law expert [anymore],” he said.
He further assured that the prison sentence will not be commuted.
According to Article 199 of the Criminal Code, murder shall be punishable by a jail term of 10 to 15 years. For the second charge of attempted murder and unauthorized use of a weapon, Sina faces a jail sentence of 10 to 15 years, the court said.
On June 22, the public reacted strongly against the court’s decision, calling it “inappropriate” and “unfair”, and that the perpetrator should be “punished severely”, after Sina was charged and a leaked video of the shooting went viral.
Several social analysts and government officials also shared their views.
The video posted on Facebook on that day, showed a gun-toting Sina walking into the victims’ residence and shooting the soon-to-be-wed couple to death and injuring two men. He fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
On Monday, the Ministry of Justice stated that it closely monitored the implementation of the law in the case to ensure that it was applied “correctly” and “strictly” so that the perpetrator is held accountable in accordance with the law and without mitigation as justice must be done for the victims.
Hun Manet posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that a debate ensued regarding the prosecution of the case amid concerns among the public that the accused would not be severely punished or might be released on bail.
He said the government was committed to enforcing the law to ensure public security and social order, as well as address social issues in a fair and just manner.
Hun Manet called on the judiciary and the prosecution to pay close attention to the implementation of the law and “deliver justice for the victims and their families without any intervention”.
He later instructed Justice Minister Koeut Rith to amend the Criminal Code after reading the comments by a Facebook user and law student Vongchan Reaksmeidara who mentioned “criminal loopholes” in the code, particularly Article 199 to Article 205.
The Articles on murder failed to stipulate the punishment for “aggravated criminal offense” with regards to a “brutal shooting”.
Meanwhile, Rith said following Hun Manet’s order, the ministry would amend the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Civil Procedure Code to address the “loopholes” and revise them to meet the present needs of society, development and to safeguard public security.
The move to amend the laws was decided during a conference in March 2023. “We recognized that if laws have loopholes, we need to revise them but we can’t implement them based on our emotions,” he remarked.
The Criminal Code will be revised to add the “aggravating” nature or circumstances of a murder, he said, adding that the amendment would exclude one article for consolidation of sentences.
NGO rights group Adhoc president Ny Sokha told CamboJA News that the press conference was to help the public, who took to social media to express their outrage, to understand court procedures and to have faith in Cambodia’s justice system.
“People lacked faith in the system because, as I said, some people who committed crimes were imprisoned for a [short] while and released,” he said, adding that some committed violence, beat up members of parliament and were able to escape.
For instance, former Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguards, who beat up former Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker, were released from prison and promoted to colonel.
Social media was not very developed then, so not many people were interested, he added.
