BATTAMBANG PROTEST SHOOTINGS-UPDATE on story of 13/12/11

Boss says guards acted in self defence

From: Meas Sokchea of the Phnom Penh POst

Monday, 26 December 2011

A development firm security guard involved in a land-dispute clash earlier this month that left three villagers shot in Battambang province’s Phnom Proek district has filed a complaint accusing the villagers of attempting to kill him, the firm’s director said yesterday.

Soun Mean, owner of Soun Mean Sambath Company, told the Post yesterday that the suit accuses the villagers of a “homicide attempt” by knocking Chan Ny unconscious with a thrown piece of wood.

The complaint comes within days of the three wounded villagers filing a complaint against Chan Ny on Thursday. The men claim he was one of the guards who opened fire on them with AK-47s after they protested having their cameras confiscated.

Soun Mean said yesterday that his representatives only opened fire after they were provoked, and if they had not, Chan Ny would have been killed.

Soun Mean said Chan Ny is now in hospital in Vietnam.