On Trial, Long Beach Man Admits Role in Cambodia Plot
A U.S. citizen admitted in court Monday that he was the leader of a group that tried to overthrow the Cambodian government, as the trial of 32 people charged in the plot began amid heavy security.
Richard Kiri Kim of Long Beach told a court that he joined the U.S.-based Cambodian Freedom Fighters in 1998 and was appointed deputy commander in chief in 2000. Two other Cambodian Americans are being tried in absentia.
The defendants are accused of attacking three government buildings in Phnom Penh, the capital, in November. The predawn assaults did little damage, but at least seven people were killed--all attackers--and 12 were wounded, officials said.
The Freedom Fighters accuse Prime Minister Hun Sen of being a dictator. Hun Sen belonged to the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and later headed a single-party Communist state backed by Vietnam. Though elected freely in 1998, he and his Cambodian People’s Party continue to jail opponents and exercise power in an authoritarian manner.
The U.S. citizens being tried in absentia are Chhun Yasith, a Long Beach accountant, and Thong Samien. Officials have not disclosed his hometown.
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