Cambodian Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) and Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) welcome the conviction of former Bavet governor Chhouk Bandith for shooting three garment workers last year, but condemn the light sentence – one-and-a-half years in prison – for actions that amounted an attempted triple-homicide.

The sentence is little more than a slap on the wrist, and is emblematic of Cambodia’s pervasive culture of impunity for the well-connected elite.

According to witnesses, then-governor Bandith brandished a gun during a protest at a garment factory in February 2012 and fired shots into a group of thousands of workers. Three women were seriously injured. He has yet to spend a day in detention, and at one point, charges were actually dropped altogether. He was finally charged with causing “unintentional violence.”

Continue reading:Ex-Governor’s Slap on Wrist for Shooting a Stark Contrast to Harsh Penalties for Human Rights Defenders

Source: (LICADHO)