This article was originally published on Prachatai.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has closed investigation into the disappearance of Thai activist in exile Wanchalerm Satsaksit, who went missing in June 2020 while living in Cambodia.
The Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF) said that, on 23 December, Wanchalerm’s sister Sitanun Satsaksit received a letter signed by an investigating judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court informing her that investigation into Wanchalerm’s disappearance has concluded.
The letter came five years after Sitanun went to Phnom Penh to testify to the court and submit documents regarding Wanchalerm’s disappearance. CrCF said that, despite eyewitnesses and CCTV footage of the abduction, Cambodian authorities have failed to bring the perpetrators to justice, making clear that they are unable to ensure the safety of everyone who lives in the country or to hold criminals responsible for their crimes.
“This court order shows that the Cambodian justice system has turned away from conducting an independent and transparent investigation in order to deliver justice to everyone in the country,” Sitanun said.
She noted that, over the past five years, she and her representatives have tried to provide evidence to the Cambodian authorities. They have travelled to Phnom Penh and filed complaints at every level in an effort to search for Wanchalerm. For her, it is insulting to be told that the investigation has been closed when a suspect has not been identified. She insisted that the search is not over and she will continue until she finds out what happened to her brother.
Meanwhile, CrCF deputy director Prakaidao Pruksakasemsuk said that closing the investigation without disclosing the procedure to family members of their lawyers, identifying a suspect, or acknowledging that it was a case of enforced disappearance shows that the Cambodian justice system allows perpetrators to get away with their crimes, especially in a case of transnational repression.
Wanchalearm went missing on 4 June 2020. He had been living in exile in Cambodia since 2014, and was abducted from in front of the Mekong Garden condominium in Phnom Penh while on the phone with his sister, who heard him say “I can’t breathe” before the line went dead. A CCTV footage shows a black Toyota Highlander SUV – reportedly the getaway vehicle used by Wanchalearm’s abductors – speeding away from Mekong Garden after two men failed to stop it from leaving. He has not been heard from since.
Thai and Cambodian authorities have denied involvement in his disappearance. Cambodian authorities claimed they have no evidence of the abduction happening in their territory, or that Wanchalearm even lived in Cambodia, even though he had a Cambodian bank account and a Cambodian passport with a Khmer name. Testimony from his friends and family said that, like many other political refugees, he went to live in Phnom Penh after fleeing Thailand.