A Mondulkiri military police officer has been charged with intentional murder after allegedly shooting and killing a man who ignored an order to stop his car while passing through a protected forest in the province’s O’Raing district, Mondulkiri provincial prosecutor Khout Sopheang said yesterday.

Pheng Sokheng was sent to provincial court on Friday, after military police alleged he shot Van Phanit, 24, to death last Wednesday, when he and another military police official opened fire at Phanit’s car. Two others in the car were injured.

“We decided to send him to court, which charged him with the intentional killing of [Phanit], said provincial military police Chief Sak Saraing.

“[Sokheng] believed the man was transporting illegal timber, but we found none in the car.”

The other military police officer and a forestry administration official who were at the scene have not been charged in the killing or injuries, Saraing said.