Guards in Laos kill man from Cambodia

26 April 2010
byTep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post

LAOTIAN authorities have shot and killed one Cambodian man and arrested two others after the men crossed illegally from Stung Treng province into Laos’s Champasak province with four other people and attacked a group of Laotian border guards, Cambodian officials said Sunday.

Stung Treng provincial governor Loy Sophat said Sunday that the seven Cambodians, who are all from Kampong Chhnang province, had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “Moreover,” he said, “they brought along some illegal drugs and machetes with them.”

He added that the April 22 altercation began when Cambodians began chasing the Laotian soldiers. When the soldiers tried to run, he said, one of them fell down and, out of fear, fired two shots in the direction of the Cambodians so as to scare them. One of the bullets struck and killed 27-year-old Praing Sokha, he said.

He emphasised that the case was unusual, saying, “Laotian soldiers never shoot or kill Cambodian people like this.”

Loy Sophat said provincial authorities had requested that Laos release the two detained men, who were identified by the rights group Adhoc as Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong and Kengchai Sixannon, first secretary at the Laotian embassy, said Sunday that they were unaware of the incident.