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Cambodian tycoon charged after actress assault

July 18, 2015

Real estate magnate Sok Bun has been detained after a video showing him allegedly kicking the TV star in the head went viral. The attack has set off widespread public anger amid fears he'll avoid jail.

https://p.dw.com/p/1G0zF
CCTV footage of the attack at a restaurant in Phnom Penh.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo

Wealthy Cambodian businessman Sok Bun was charged and detained on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault of a popular TV actress.

Officials in Phnom Penh said the tycoon had pleaded guilty to charges of intent to commit violence after a video of the vicious attack on the woman went viral on social media, along with pictures of the victim's injuries.

Cruel assault

Bun, who fled to Singapore after the footage was made public, was arrested upon his return to Cambodia on Saturday following an Interpol "Red Notice," an international arrest warrant.

He is being held in a prison on the outskirts of the capital and will remain there until his trial.

The assault took place in the early hours of July 2 at a Japanese restaurant in Phnom Penh.

CCTV footage shows two men - allegedly Bun and his bodyguard - beating a woman in a black dress and repeatedly kicking her in the head as she desperately tries to get up from the floor.

Actress Ek Socheata
Bun offered SaSa compensation, but she has not said whether she will accept itImage: picture alliance/ZUMA Press/Sovannara

In the video, the bodyguard repeatedly points a handgun at the actress' head.

The victim, 28-year-old Ek Socheata - better known by her stage name SaSa, said the row began when Bun made drunken and unwanted advances towards a Japanese friend.

In an interview with the AFP news agency, SaSa claimed Bun was "trying to kill me," adding that the tycoon had offered $200,000 (185,000 euros) in compensation but she hadn't decided whether to take it.

The attack has dominated the domestic media over the past two weeks, fueling public anger in a country where domestic violence is commonplace and the rich often act with impunity amid a corrupt judicial system.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen joined the calls for Bun to hand himself in to police, describing the attack as "intolerable." He warned the tycoon to return home or be extradited from Singapore "in handcuffs."

If convicted, 37-year-old Bun faces up to five years in jail. Officials say he won't be allowed to settle the case out of court financially.

mm/sms (AP, dpa)