Kandal provincial police have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of killing a popular opposition activist earlier this week.
Police say they arrested Lim Veasna, a father of two in Kien Svay district, Thursday evening with traces of blood on his clothes, and said they had suspected him because he belongs to a group of drug users.
They are still looking for two more suspects and are assuming a motive of robbery in the Wednesday killing of Ouk Chhan, 64, a Sam Rainsy Party activist and likely candidate commune council in 2012.
But Sam Rainsy Party officials said Friday they believe the true killer or killers remain at large.
“It was politically motivated, and the Sam Rainsy Party will follow up closely and request that the authorities find the real murderers,” said Chan Cheng, an opposition lawmaker for Kandal province.
Eav Sam Roeun, chief of Kandal police, said an investigation was ongoing. “We are searching for two more, to show and reply to the political allegations”, he said.
Am Sam Ath, lead investigator for the rights group Licadho, said the murder could have been a coincidence and a robbery. “We will continue to investigate and to verify,” he said.
The murder occurred during a fact-finding visit by the UN’s rights envoy to Cambodia, Suriya Subedi, who declined to comment on the killing without further investigation.