Police Accused of Gunning Down Farmer as Political Questions Arise

CHAK COMMUNE, Tbong Khmum — Po Hin Lean had only been home from the north for three days when he was shot dead in a rice field in the darkness of the night. Footprints suggest he had been encircled. His corpse had bullet wounds in both thighs and his rear.

The killing, which struck a rural Tbong Khmum village early Sunday morning, was likely at the hands of police, and appears to be related to small-scale illegal fishing in flooded rice fields. Six people — three police officers and three village guards — have been arrested pending negotiations with the victim’s wife, which may see them set free in exchange for compensation.

Locals are shocked by the death, criticizing police over what they see as disproportionate, needless violence. But further complicating the incident is the victim’s known support for the political opposition — a topic that shuts down conversations in the farming village amid abrupt signs of fear. Gunshots Ven Kimyi, the victim’s wife, woke up at 5 a.m. Sunday to find his cousin asking after her husband.

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