Family outraged after officer shoots man during cockfighting raid in Cambodia

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Witnesses said a top local police officer shot a man during a raid on an illegal cock fight, but police later said that the gunshot came from an accidental discharge – which angered the victim’s family.
Witnesses said Seang Bunnal, the deputy police chief in Prey Veng province’s Ban Phnom district, led a group of officers in the raid over the Khmer New Years holiday weekend.
Seang Bunnal fired his pistol, hitting San Vicheca, a 36-year-old farmer, witnesses said. San Vicheca had been watching the cockfighting and was sitting on a motorbike when he was struck, his brother said.
The brother, San Tola, told Radio Free Asia that San Vicheca was being treated at a hospital in Vietnam. Doctors have been unable to remove the bullet and he may be permanently paralyzed, San Tola said.

San Vicheca lies on the ground after being shot during a cockfight raid in Prey Veng Province, Ban Phnom District, on April 15, 2023. (Citizen Journalist photo)

After the shooting, a group of people and journalists stopped Seang Bunnal. He was detained and later released, witnesses said
Prey Veng Provincial Deputy Police Chief Prak Chanthet wrote a report this week to National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun that called the shooting an accident. Seang Bunnal is still being investigated and the case hasn’t been sent to court officials yet, Prak Chanthet said.
San Vicheca’s family continues to insist that the shooting wasn’t an accident. They also say that he didn"t fight with police during the raid.
Seang Bunnal refused to talk to RFA when reached for comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Police should only use lethal weapons when they’re fired upon, Adhoc spokesman Soeung Sen Karuna told RFA. But if the other party doesn’t have a weapon, it’s illegal to shoot at them, he said.
“There should be a good reason,” he said. “Police can’t just use lethal weapons. The victim was shot from behind which meant the victim was afraid.”
Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

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