District police in Kratie said they were seeking to arrest three suspects who beat a man taking photos and videos in the area, though they would not elaborate on the investigation.
Snuol district police chief Chan Sokim said the man, San Sim, was filming in the shade of a mango tree in Kranhoung Senchey commune on Monday when three people arrived on a motorbike and attacked him with wooden sticks.
Sokim said Sim was a journalist and had called another reporter for help, and would have died at the scene if there had been no intervention by the other reporter.
The three suspects had fled by the time police officers arrived, Sokim said.
“Now I just want to tell you that our authorities are working on it and related to other details, we cannot tell you because it is under investigation,” he said. “We have identified the suspects because it is a red-hand crime and the victim knows them clearly. For now we’ve only heard the answer from the victim that they were angry with him for taking photos.”
Sokim would not elaborate on what Sim was photographing, or what the relation between the attackers and victim was.
“I cannot talk about it because it is their secret, and we cannot say since there is no evidence,” he said.
Local news outlet CEN suggested that Sim was filming timber trafficking.
Kranhoung Senchey commune police chief Ly Sokhon said, “We do not know whether they are wood business or not because we are still working on it, and let me finish my work and then I will tell you the story.”
