Kem Lay was often critical of the government in comments made on popular radio stations and in the few independent Cambodian newspapers. Media friendly to the ruling CPP claim that the opposition was keenest to have Mr Ley out of the way, a suggestion his friends say is preposterous.
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Instead, the police have arrested innocent people and coerced them to confess, the party said in a statement.
Ley was gunned down by a man who was later arrested and charged with premeditated murder.
Lastly, we call on the worldwide community to support Cambodia’s civil society in their campaigns to obtain the immediate release all political prisoners and an end to all human rights violations, including judicial harassment and attacks on human rights defenders and organisations working for the protection of human rights, democracy, and sustainable development.
The opposition CNRP also urged the government to appoint independent investigators to solve the killing.
“In the case related to the vicious murder against Dr. Kem Ley, we would like to ask for global participation … in the investigation, especially the United Nations, to put an end to the atrocious murder in Cambodia and to put an end to claims that it was unrelated to political issues”, the party said in a statement that was issued after a U.N. official based in the Southeast Asian country had called for the same. It said it is also “concerned at increasing restrictions placed upon civil society organizations and harassment of activists in the country”.
They called on the government to urgently implement effective protection measures to ensure the safety of activists exercising their right to free speech.
Dr Ley was a frequent critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s rule, south east Asia’s longest serving autocrat. His body was taken on Sunday to a pagoda on the outskirts of Phnom Penh where a Buddhist ceremony was held.
Media reports have identified the main suspect as Oueth Ang, 43, a resident of Angkor Chum commune in Siem Reap province.
Opposition officials, meanwhile, rejected the insinuation that the opposition was to blame.
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During interrogation, Oeut Ang reportedly told police that Kem Ley owed him US$3,000, and that he shot the well-known political analyst and government critic because of the dispute. In 2014, Kem Ley founded a grassroots advocacy group called “Khmer for Khmer”, aimed at encouraging the formation of grassroots-based political parties across Cambodia.
