One of the men suspected in the seven-year-old murder of a Phnom Penh garment factory union representative was tried at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, nearly two years after his conviction in absentia.

Chan Sophon, 35, stood before presiding Judge Kor Vandy in a re-trial of a December 2012 hearing that found him guilty in the February 2007 shooting death of Hy Vuthy, late president of the Free Trade Union at Dangkor district’s Suntex.

Witnesses testified seeing Sophon carry a pistol while shadowing Vuthy on a motorbike for several days leading up to the deadly shooting. Alleged accomplice Phal Vannak, 34, was convicted of the crime in 2012 and is now serving 18 years in Prey Sar prison.

In court yesterday, Sophon – arrested at his parents’ Phnom Penh home last year – said he could not have participated in the murder, because he was living with his wife in Kampong Speu at the time.

A verdict is due on February 6.