A long-sought statue honouring slain former Free Trade Union leader Chea Vichea has moved a step closer to realisation with the formal establishment of a Phnom Penh municipal working group for the project.

Phnom Penh governor Kep Chuktema announced in March the working group would be established following approval for the project from Prime Minister Hun Sen in January.

Mann Senghak, an FTU adviser who has been assigned to the working group, said yesterday Kep Chuktema signed off on the plan on May 4.

“We are really happy with the decision, because this is what we, the unionists and the workers, have wanted for almost 10 years,” he said.

Chea Vichea was gunned down in broad daylight outside a news stand near Wat Lanka on January 22, 2004.

Though two suspects, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, were convicted of his murder, the trial was widely derided for failing to maintain basic standards of justice.

The pair have since been released pending a re-investigation by the Appeal Court.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khouth Sophak Chakrya at [email protected]