A National Police officer who beat up a traffic policeman on Tuesday for reprimanding him for running a red light was sent to pre-trial detention by Phnom Penh Municipal Court this afternoon and faces the preliminary charge of “intentional violence”.
The incident was caught on CCTV cameras at a garage in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district. After traffic policeman Eurng Chamnan stopped Sao Panha, an official at the Anti-Cyber Crime Department, for a traffic violation on Monday, the latter came back on Tuesday to berate the officer, kicking him in the chest as he knelt and folded his hands in apparent apology.
After being arrested on Tuesday and questioned by Prosecutor Seang Sok yesterday, the court today remanded Panha to pre-trial detention for intentional violence under aggravating circumstances, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
“Now the suspect was sent to the Correctional Centre 1 on the same charges placed by Deputy Prosecutor Seang Sok,” said court administrator Y Rin.
Rin said that an additional charge had also been filed against Panha - “unauthorised use of an emblem regulated by a public authority” - for using a captain's epaulet with four stripes instead of the major’s epaulet with three stripes he is officially assigned. The extra charge could see Panha face up to an additional year in prison.
Video of part of the incident, which has been circulating on social media:
