F ILIPINO sailor Emilio Sealquil is being held in T-3 prison for the murder of
Thai crewmate Suthee Sangnark, who was found stabbed and floating in Phnom Penh
port.
Chief engineer Suthee was the only Thai among an all-Filipino crew
of the Singapore-owned freighter Hana and police said Captain Cecilio Baruc
failed to report him as missing.
A cigarette seller at the port
befriended by Suthee said that on the day he disappeared he complained of
victimization.
The woman, calling herself Vany, told the Post: "He told
me he would not work for the Hana after this trip because the crew were all
Filipino and they didn't like him because he was the only Thai that worked on
the ship."
Uch Tong, the chief of police at the port, said he became
suspicious and prevented the ship departing because the captain had given him a
report which showed the ship was leaving with one less crew member than when it
arrived.
He said: "I thought that there was something that the captain
wanted to hide."
The captain Cecilio Baruc, denied involvement and said
he simply thought Suthee had jumped ship and was unaware he had been murdered.
According to a police medical report, Suthee was grabbed around the neck
and then knifed in the back and stomach.
After the body was found, Baruc
said he called the crew together. Five men accused Seaquil of the killing but
said they had been too scared to report him.
One said: "We opened a
window and saw Sealquil and Suthee fighting.
"We then saw Sealquil stab
Suthee and push him in the water.
"We yelled 'Why did you do that!' and
he threatened to kill us if we spread the story to others."
The captain
said he knew Seaquil was angry with Suthee after the Thai reported him to the
company for being lazy.
Inside T-3, father-of-two Sealquil denied the
killing.
"I haven't had any problems with Suthee in the eight months I
have been working for the company, he has been very good to me."
Sealquil
says he wants to go home because his wife and two young children depend on
him.
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