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didn't commit. As the judge read out the ruling, applause broke out in the courtroom and
the two men dropped to their knees. When the two men left the building, Sam Oeun raised
his hands and shouted: “I would like the world to know that I, Sok Sam Oeun, have been
freed and Cambodia does have justice … People across the world: believe that Cambodia
has justice.” 46
The story of Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang had taken several cruel twists since
their initial conviction. In early 2009, the pair were released on appeal and returned for
a time to their old lives. Then, after four years of freedom, the court ordered them re-
arrested and there was more tearful bewilderment as the two men were taken back into
custody. Their final release took place in a period of loosening after the 2013 election, in
which the CNRP made large gains on the back of widespread discontent with the CPP's
rule (see Epilogue). The two men had spent 2,073 days in prison, but there was no hint of
compensation for their wrongful arrest and imprisonment. Samnang and Sam Oeun were
free, but Vichea's killers remained at large. The case was officially “open,” but no one
expected justice. The mirage remained in place.
In May 2013, the Free Trade Union held a small ceremony in a park close to Wat Lanka
and unveiled a statue of Chea Vichea. It was slightly smaller than life-size, and depicted
him in a familiar stance, speaking into a small microphone during a rally. For six years
Chea Mony, Vichea's brother and now head of the FTU, had sought government permis-
sion to erect the statue as a symbol of the bravery and compassion with which Vichea
had fought to advance workers' rights. In early 2012 Hun Sen signed off on his proposal,
and even ordered the city authorities to cover part of the statue's cost. (They eventually
provided $5,000 out of $7,000.)
But there was one unpublicized condition. The FTU would have to cease its yearly
marches calling for the killers of Chea Vichea to be brought to justice. 47 Instead of re-
sponding to rising popular discontent with concrete reforms, the government offered an-
other empty concession. Instead of human rights, Cambodia had “International Human
Rights Day.” Instead of freedom of expression there was “Freedom Park.” Now workers
seeking justice for a murdered figurehead had been thrown another harmless—a small
statue that gazed over a busy intersection, its right arm draped with loops of jasmine, its
hand raised as if in some sort of silent curse or benediction.
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