Kem Ley’s Body to Remain in Capital

[geovalin]

Kem Ley’s body will be taken to its resting place in the late political analyst’s hometown next Sunday, July 24, after calls from the public yesterday asking that the date be extended a full week from the planned procession. Theng Savoeun, of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC) and a member of Mr. Ley’s funeral organization committee, told Khmer Times yesterday that Mr. Ley’s body will be moved to his Leay Bo commune birthplace in Takeo province’s Tram Kak district at a later date than initially planned in response to public requests for more mourning time in Phnom Penh, where Mr. Ley’s body has been held at Wat Chas since his murder more than a week ago.

Mr. Savoeun estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people have come to Wat Chas daily to pay their respects to Mr. Ley. “We decided to delay for one more week, giving time for the public to mourn Mr. Kem Ley. So on Sunday, July 24, Mr. Kem Ley’s body procession ceremony will be held as his body travels from Phnom Penh to his hometown in Leay Bo commune, Tram Kak district, Takeo province,” Mr. Savoeun said.

Founder of the Independent Monk Network, the Venerable But Buntenh, also commented on the extended period of mourning on Friday. “We have changed Mr. Kem Ley’s funeral procession program because both locally and abroad, people have requested and urged us to keep Mr. Ley’s body in Wat Chas. Another thing is that Mr. Ley’s body is a legacy of the Cambodian people,” he said.

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27330/kem-ley---s-body-to-remain--in-capital/

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Phnom Penh governor criticises Kem Ley funeral

Mon, 18 July 2016

Lay Samean

The continued presence of the body of slain political analyst Kem Ley at the capital’s Wat Chas pagoda, where thousands have converged to pay their respects over the past week, is nothing more than a politicised money grab, City Governor Pa Socheatvong said yesterday.

Socheatvong’s remarks came after the committee tasked with overseeing details of the funeral balked at an agreement to send the body for interment to Ley’s home province of Takeo.

An at-times strident critic of the government, Ley was shot dead while drinking coffee at a Phnom Penh petrol station last Sunday.

read more http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/phnom-penh-governor-criticises-kem-ley-funeral