Kep Thmei, also known as KT was our usual leisure place where we congregate and relax after a long week of work. We come to know the owners and all of the people in the resort by name. They were genuinely nice people when it comes down to service delivery. Great foods, excellent ambience, nice looking hostesses, and always that opportunity to jump into the water when ever one feels that it was necessary. Many of our friends, about fifty others regard this place called Chne Tonle as our second home away from home because we feel a sense of attachment due to the quality of services that we have been receiving.
Taro picks up the phone and voices shouting in a teasing way that his his girlfriend, (The Minister of Interior) is checking up on him. Taro takes the phone and run to one corner of the room. We realized after Taro spoke briefly that it was a serious call from our friend, Sean. From the tele-conversation, we overheard that Sean had requested Taro to get help from a business tycoon of whom Taro’s uncle was a close associate. Taro panicked, hung up the phone then became dead silent. “Shit” he shouted…..why Sean?, why Sean? All of us were numbed and did not really know what was happening. After a brief moment of anticipation, Taro spoke about Sean and the reasons for his call.
Taro began by telling us that Sean had been arrested at 2:00pm the day before at the Thai-Cambodian border town of Poipet as he tried to enter Thailand on a short excursion. With Sean was his newly found companion of whom he recently met after his visit to Siam Reap province, a tourist town that was always filled with tourists who come to see ancient Khmer monuments and the various archeological sites .
Sean was taken from the border town, blind folded and handcuffed in the dead of night, accompanied by three armed men to Phnom Penh, the capital city situated about 450 kilometers away. The trip took Sean and the men about eight hours due to the horrifying road conditions.
Sean had just arrived in Phnom Penh and locked up at an immigration detention center, when he made the call to Taro. Emotions ran high, shocked for most of us because we did not know how to react to such case. Fortunately, after a brief silent; Lee, Taro’s cousin, whose father was a close associate of the business tycoon that Sean had identified as a potential individual to help him out of the detention quickly turned to me; then made a phone call to his father. After a lengthy discussion, Lee’s father was hesitant because he found out about the seriousness of the case. Lee’s father was probably afraid of the political implication on his boss; then quickly said that he did not want to get involved.
By this time, we were able to gather that Sean was arrested due to some sorts of political reasons. We were not given the details of what had happened. All of us were interested in the truth. I refused to acknowledge the political reasons for his arrest. I found it to be absurd and not true. From what I know of Sean and his family in more than twenty years; they have never been involved with politics. For Sean, it was his sixth trip to Cambodia because he enjoyed coming back and spent his hard earned money in the mother land. Most of his activities were out and about Phnom Penh night life, the beaches and the many opportunities to reminisce his childhood memories.
In the back of my mind, I was somewhat furious with Sean because I was supposed to be his first contact in situation like this. Sean had spent a couple of nights at our house before he left to Siam Reap province, then to the provincial town of Poipet where he was arrested. On his way to Poipet, Sean called me and told me of how excited he was going there, but never mentioned the short excursion into Thailand. I would have guessed that he was having an adventure of a life time with a beautiful girl on his side. Taro became Sean pretty good friend after many late nights at the clubs in and around Phnom Penh. On the other hand, I was some what considerate and thoughtful that Sean probably did not want me nor my family to be involved or worried about his ordeal.
After a brief discussion among ourselves, we told the resort owner to pack the foods because we did not have time to stay and enjoy our meal. In my mind, whatever the case maybe, I had to act quickly to mobilize necessary resources to get Sean out of the detention center.
Myself, my two brothers, and my cousin started to drive back into town. I had made a couple of calls and found out the exact location of where Pheak was detained. The sky darkened and became very gloomy. A down pour ensued. By the time we got to the immigration detention center, the streets were already flooded. I, my brother and my cousin had to park and walked in a waist deep sewage water to get to the detention center.
When I arrived at the detention center, an old and run down building half buried by flood water; I requested to see Sean, a detainee from the border town. The guard insisted that visitors were not allowed because it was a weekend and detainees had not been processed. The guard also signaled that with a little bit of grease, things were negotiable. Due to serious nature of the situation, I gave the guard twenty dollars for an opportunity to speak to Sean. Sean was allowed five minutes. Unshaven, exhausted and scruffy looking; he seemed as though he has not had foods in days.
The first question that Sean asked me was “why are you here and how did know that I am here?” My overall feelings were that of joy that he was alive and somewhat well. A bit of anger in the back of my mind, but I knew he was too traumatized, scared and unable to comprehend what had happened to him. For me, the immediate things were to see his condition, find out first hand of what had happened, and understand all of the charges against him. After five minutes, the guard told me that time had expired that the detainee had to go back in. I walked away from the brief meeting knowing only that he was detained at the border and taken to Phnom Penh to be processed as a political prisoner on god’s only know charges. I immediately turned to three other sources for help. I called an American Embassy to inform them that an American citizen had been illegally detained. Details about Sean were conveyed to the an American officer and he had promised me that he will visit Sean that evening after the rain has ceased.
My second plan was to get my good friend who works as an attorney for the Prime Minister, also with extensive government contacts to find out the charges against Sean. My third source was charged to work with the middle ranking police officials and network at the possibilities of how we can secure Sean’s release. Political arrests were very serious and typically will result in death. Therefore, I had to pull all kinds of strings to help my buddy, Sean.
After a couple of hours of investigations, I found out that Sean was charged of manslaughter and involvement with a group called Cambodian Freedom Fighters. A group with its acronym of CFF and its members were wanted by the government for staging a failed coup against the government. I was forewarn by my friend who was the lawyer to distance myself from Sean because I could be found guilty by association.
After I heard of the two serious charges; I drove to an Immigration Police Chief’s house after having heard that he had just arrived from Singapore. The police chief welcomed me into his house because of my relationship with him over the years. Upon my request, the police chief made a few phone calls to his associates and was informed that Pheak was a “Big Catch”. Sean was a wanted political opponent that had staged a coup d’etat against the Cambodian government which resulted in more than two hundred deaths.
I was in shock and could not believe what was happening. I refused to acknowledge that Pheak could be involved in such acts because he was a total extrovert. Any thing that he did were discussed at the dinner table. If the story was true, how can Pheak and his family were able to keep such secret from me, my family and our friends for so long???.
I chose to believe his innocence because I had complete confidence that Pheak was never involved in those illegal political acts. Was it a scheme for ransom or was it some thing else?
The American Embassy called me and requested that I bring Sean’s identification card so that the FBI and CIA can do background check regarding Sean’s involvements with a political organization called Cambodian Freedom Fighters. Fortunately, Sean had left all of his cards at my house except his passport in which he would always carried it around with him.
On the fourth day of Sean’s arrest, I got a call from an American Embassy that Sean’s name was identical to a person that the government was looking for. A master mind behind the failed-coup in early 2001. From my other source, I was told that Sean had been moved to a different facility to be with the political prisoners. That same source also told me that there were a couple of options if the price was right and Sean could be released in a matter of days. On the other hand, I had also been told by the American Embassy that it was difficult to do anything because it can become a diplomatic affairs and may have political implications between the two countries.
I aggressively requested the American consulate to pursue all legal means because I was able to convince her about Sean’s background. I gave an affidavit to the consulate in support of Sean and his innocence. Meanwhile, my other sources were telling me to cough up ten thousand dollars for an immediate release. I was unsure of who to trust at this particular moment. The only thing that was credible in my mind was the American pressure; but I was not able to determine the extent of what they can do for us.
During the course of the ordeal, I have managed to inform Sean’s family in the USA of what was happening to him. Once I have heard of the serious news about a potential ransom; I was a bit excited because of the nature of these charges. Not too many were able to escape political charges.
Meanwhile, Sean managed to bribe the police to make short phone calls to me and informed me of his condition and his where about. He would tell me that he was given very little foods and been paraded in front of many political prisoners. The prisoners were asked to identify him as their leader. Fortunately, none of the prisoners expressed any knowledge of the Sean they saw.
Sean's ordeal has taken myself and family by much surprise. Despite the prospect of being implicated by associating with Sean; I have made up my mind because I was certain that the Sean that I knew was innocent.
Finally, the story broke. I got a call from an American Embassy that they have learned that a wanted person by the name of Sean Kim was a Cambodian-American and had extensive political involvements out of California. Sean Kim, the political activist was married with two children. A big relief to me because the descriptions did not match any thing of the Sean we knew; except both had the same last name.
It had been three week. I was still edgy, restless, and emotionally drained. Furthermore, I was also weary of the mere fact that I was involved in a situation of such enormity. A potential legal and political implications by associating with a wanted man was certainly a scary ordeal after all.
I had to close the front gate of my house early in the evenings to safeguard against secret police and other secret elements that were still investigating the case. There were many tense moments because we would always felt that I was under some sorts of surveillance.
By the fourth week, Sean dropped in un-expectedly to my house at around five o’clock evening whilst I was having dinner. I was surprised to see him for the very first time since he was detained. Sean had lost about twenty pounds and had beard and mustache grown beyond recognition. Sean ran in and hugged my housemates and whispered “I am glad to be home, I am glad to be home….” He was in tears. I could see a defeated man, emotionally drained and a sense of helplessness in his eyes. He was very dis-oriented even after half an hour in our home. My housemate hurriedly went to the kitchen and started to prepare more foods for both Sean and his escort.
In our hearts, we were just happy to see him again. We could not discuss any thing sensitive because we were just afraid and did not know who to trust.
Sean took a break and went up-stair for a shower. After a refreshing shower, Sean came down to join us for dinner. By now, his beard and mustache had been shaven. One could tell that Seanwas trying very hard to be normal in ways of speech and his actions. I could clearly see that his hands were still shaking as he tried to hold on to his spoon. He would speak a couple of phrases and then he would pause silently. His shaky voice echoed feelings of mental anguish and of one that had been rudimentary traumatized. He spoke very little about the incidence, but he expressed his feelings of home sick and that he greatly missed his mother and his siblings in USA. The secret police that escorted Sean sat quietly observing our conversation and from time to time; he would step out of our gate for a cigarette breaks.
After two hours, Sean told us that it was time to go back to the detention center. I secretly gave Sean some money under the dinner table so that he could use it for various exchanges with the guards. American dollars can go many miles in places such as Cambodia. Before, Sean left our home, he told us that he will return within three days. For me, it was one of the most tense moments that I had experienced because I have never been under surveillance and much scrutiny. I wanted to ask so much about the details; but I was not able to given the circumstances.
Yes, it was a great opportunity to see him. The feelings of much anticipation and anxiety actually put all of us in a much more doubts of what could happen to Sean in the days to come. I was not able to go to sleep that night, because I was extremely worried of the fact that the secret police now knows where I live…..Any thing was possible???? I thought about getting the next flight out to Thailand, but I finally came to my senses and stayed. The night was long. Unfortunately, we had a black out in our neighborhood due to a fire at the power station at around two o’clock in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment