A man who was convicted of killing a police officer in 2015 by the Appeal Court was brought to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Kim Sarom
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard the appeal of a man convicted of killing a police officer in Ampil Leu village, in Kampong Cham province’s Kampong Siem district in 2015.
Yong Yat, 25, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for “intentional acts of violence with aggravated circumstances”, said in court that he was travelling with his wife on the evening of December 26, 2015, to buy sweets when three young men suddenly overtook his motorbike.
After the manoeuvre, the parties began to exchange insults until the dispute erupted into a violent scuffle requiring the police to intervene, Yat testified.
‘The other rider hit him’
He told the court that when Officer Long Buntha was questioning the two parties on the dispute, one of the young men attempted to run Yat over on his motorbike, but Buntha ended up being struck instead, causing him to fall and become unconscious.
Sem Chanthorn, Buntha’s widow, told the court that she had sent her husband to Vietnam to treat the injuries but he died after eight days in the hospital, leaving her with no breadwinner and two school-going daughters.
Yat was arrested 20 days after the incident. The Kampong Cham Provincial Court in 2016 sentenced him to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay a 120 million riel ($30,000) fine to the victim’s family. He lost his appeal.
“I didn’t hit the official. Rather, the other rider hit him. I would like the court to release me,” he said in the trial chamber on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Veng Bunthoeun said that Yat’s account of the incident deviated with his original statement as he argued to uphold the Appeal Court’s verdict.
“I would like the court to seek justice for his [the deceased’s] family,” Bunthoeun said.
In Yat’s defence, lawyer Pich Phalla Sambath argued that Yat was not riding the motorcycle when it struck Buntha and he had no intention of hurting him.
“I would like the trial chamber to please release my client from the charges and free him,” he said.
Trial chamber president Judge Kim Sathavy said the court would announce its verdict on Wednesday.
