Court sentences Cambodian businessman to 31 years in prison for killing of young couple

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian real estate entrepreneur, whose high-profile killing of a young couple sparked public outrage, was sentenced Monday to 31 years in prison.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court said the sentence was the maximum for the crimes committed by Srey Sina, who was also ordered to pay more than $2 million in compensation to the victims’ families.

Srey Sina, 51, was found guilty of fatally shooting 27-year-old Long Lysong and his fiancée Khin Kanchana, 25, on June 17 while intervening in a property dispute between neighbors in the capital, Phnom Penh. Two other victims in their early 20s sustained minor injuries in the incident, which was captured on video surveillance cameras and the footage circulated widely online.

Srey Sina reportedly told police that he was angered by Long Lysong speaking rudely to him.

The case attracted wide-spread attention not only because of the seemingly unprovoked killing of a soon-to-be married couple and the petty dispute that sparked it, but also because the suspect held the title of Oknha, an honorific bestowed on business people who donate large sums of money to the government.

Srey Sina, whose trial was held on Dec. 6, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the two killings and ordered to pay compensation of $1 million each to the victims’ families. Cambodia does not have capital punishment.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempted homicide and unauthorized use of weapons in the case of the two wounded victim, to whom he was also ordered to pay compensation. He was also ordered to serve one year in prison and pay a fine for trespassing on a private home.

The Oknha title is generally associated with influential tycoons who are considered allies of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, which has been in power for almost four decades. There are about 1,300 title holders, most of whom, like the suspect, are not public figures.

Conventional wisdom associates holding the title with impunity for the rich, serving as a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card or a way of short-cutting government regulations. Even after Srey Sina’s arrest, there was considerable skepticism he would face any serious punishment.

Senior government figures had publicly denounced the killings following the public reaction.