Arrest Warrant for Tycoon Filmed Beating Woman Yet to be Issued [The culprit is being protected by powerful officials]

Surveillance Camera shows SaSa, Former MC of CTN Attacked and Beaten by Sok Bun and his Bodyguard

Monday, 13 July 2015; News by Khmer Times/Jonathan Cox

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Sok Bun’s savage assault left Ms. Sasa bruised and bloody, with a dark bruise under one eye. The former TV presenter sought medical attention in Thailand. Photo: Sasa’s FB page

PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – The prosecution of Sok Bun, the business tycoon who was caught on camera assaulting former TV personality Ek Socheata, also known as Ms. Sasa, has stalled as the municipal court waits to issue an arrest warrant. 

In a criminal complaint filed Thursday July 2, Ms. Sasa accused the tycoon of attempted murder, according to her lawyer Put Theavy. Eleven days have passed since Ms. Sasa filed her complaint, but officials in the Interior Ministry and Municipal Court say the court still has not issued a warrant for his arrest. 

The case came to the public’s attention when a leaked security camera video of the assault began circulating on the internet last Wednesday. The video shows Mr. Bun repeatedly punching, kicking and stomping on Ms. Sasa while his bodyguard points a gun at her face. Following public outrage over the incident, the effort to bring Mr. Bun to trial in criminal court is gathering speed. “[The Municipal Court] plans to choose a prosecutor soon,” Mr. Theavy told Khmer Times. 

Clerks in the office of state prosecutor Ung Bunthorn at the Municipal Court said the complaint is still working its way through the administrative department. A prosecutor has not yet been assigned, but once one is chosen he will be responsible for issuing an arrest warrant, they said.

Tycoon Evasion

Even with a warrant, bringing Mr. Bun to trial may prove difficult. There have been conflicting reports about the tycoon’s whereabouts, with some saying he has fled to Singapore while others say he is still in Cambodia. The Criminal Investigations Department of the Singapore police said they had not yet begun searching for him, though they would if there was an extradition request from the Cambodian government. 

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said he does not know where Mr. Bun is, and that the government cannot begin to search for him until an arrest warrant is issued. “While the assault is taking place, the police have the right to arrest him on the spot,” Mr. Sopheak said, “But time has passed, so now the family has to pursue the case to the court and we have to issue an arrest warrant before we can arrest him.” 

“I side with the family,” Mr. Sopheak said. “But until I have an arrest warrant we can do nothing.” 

Deja Vu

Ms. Sasa’s case is unique. The assault was caught on video, and the victim is a celebrity with a wealthy, influential family. Nevertheless, her case has come to stand for the rights of women who are assaulted. 

Mr. Theavy said Mr. Bun offered Ms. Sasa’s family $40,000 in exchange for dropping the charges. Ms. Sasa’s father Uth Thy said he refused the payment. Wealthy abusers in Cambodia often try to purchase the victim’s silence, said Bunthoeun Soun, coordinator of the Judicial Reform Project at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. 

“The wealthy can have impunity in Cambodia,” the rights worker said. “Some people have power, and it’s hard to bring them to jail or to convict them of the crime...when someone attacks another person, there should be punishment. We have to have the rule of law.”

Lim Mony, who works in the women’s rights unit at Adhoc, agreed that the Ms. Sasa’s case is about the rights of women in Cambodia. “We need to educate women not to be afraid of men,” she said. “Sasa should defend her human rights.”