Prominent labour leader is latest slain in series of suspected political killings

Описание: (23 Jan 2004)
1. Dead body of labour leader Chea Vichea lying in temple
2. Various close ups of people weeping
3. Close up of Vichea's blood-stained shirt
4. Close up of Vichea's hands
5. Women weeping around body
6. Vichea's body being covered with a sheet
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Rainsy, opposition leader:
"Over the last few days and weeks, many opponents to the current regime and those who were fighting for democracy and social justice have been assassinated."
8. Various of scene of shooting


STORYLINE:
A prominent Cambodian labour leader, affiliated to the country's main opposition party, was shot dead in a Phnom Penh street on Thursday.

Chea Vichea, president of Cambodia's Free Trade Union of Workers, died from gunshot wounds at a roadside newsstand early on Thursday morning.

Va Sothy, the newsstand owner, said an unidentified assailant shot Vichea, who was reading a newspaper, from about half a metre (two feet) away. The attacker then fled on a motorbike.

Vichea has become the latest victim of a series of suspected political killings involving critics of the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the slain labour leader was a founding member of his party some eight years ago, and left it to form the first free trade union in Cambodia, although he still shared the party's ideals.

He said Chea Vichea "was a target of the current regime" because of his strong denunciation of corruption and human rights violations.

Chea Vichea was well known in Cambodia for helping to organise unions at garment factories and negotiate labour disputes.

A portion of the street where the office of the Free Trade Union of Workers is situated has been closed to traffic as it became a site for mourning with workers converging to pay their respects.

The government condemned Thursday's killing, but dismissed speculation that it was politically motivated

An Interior Ministry spokesman said a substantial reward - in the region of 100 (m) million riel (25,000 US dollars) - was likely to be offered for any information leading to the arrest of Vichea's killers.

At least three members of the Sam Rainsy Party have been killed in two separate attacks in recent weeks.

In the run-up to last July's general elections, a number of activists of the royalist Funcinpec party and the Sam Rainsy Party were killed in what they alleged were politically motivated attacks.

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