PHNOM PENH - The provincial court opened a hearing against Rann Borath, a security guard for a timber company accused of accidentally killing the military policeman who allegedly shot environmental activist Chut Wutty in April.
Rann Borath, who works for the company Timber Green, has been in jail since shortly after the Koh Kong shooting.
The Koh Kong court dropped the official case in Chut Wutty’s death, having decided the man who shot him, In Ratana, had been killed.
Court officials say Rann Borath accidentally killed In Ratana after Chut Wutty was shot, a scenario rights groups have said is improbable, given the nature of In Rattana’s wounds. He was shot twice in the torso.
However, court officials say Rann Borath has confessed to the accidental killing charges against him.
Chut Wutty, whose fervent activism against illegal logging by powerful groups earned him many enemies, was killed alongside In Ratana in an exchange of gunfire at a jungle outpost in Koh Kong April 26, as Chut Wutty was escorting two journalists to investigate illegal logging and possible drug production in the province.
Rann Borath, who works for the company Timber Green, has been in jail since shortly after the Koh Kong shooting.
The Koh Kong court dropped the official case in Chut Wutty’s death, having decided the man who shot him, In Ratana, had been killed.
Court officials say Rann Borath accidentally killed In Ratana after Chut Wutty was shot, a scenario rights groups have said is improbable, given the nature of In Rattana’s wounds. He was shot twice in the torso.
However, court officials say Rann Borath has confessed to the accidental killing charges against him.
Chut Wutty, whose fervent activism against illegal logging by powerful groups earned him many enemies, was killed alongside In Ratana in an exchange of gunfire at a jungle outpost in Koh Kong April 26, as Chut Wutty was escorting two journalists to investigate illegal logging and possible drug production in the province.
