Yahoo – AFP,
December 28, 2017
Cambodian netizens cried foul over the court order to kill the seized cocks (AFP Photo/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA) |
Cambodian
police ruffled feathers on Thursday after they killed -- and ate -- 92 roosters
that were seized earlier this month during a raid on an illegal cockfighting
ring allegedly run by a relative of premier Hun Sen.
The birds
were rounded up by police after they shuttered the two rural cockfighting dens
on December 4 and arrested Hun Sen's nephew-in-law Thai Phany.
Thai Phany,
a Cambodian-Australian citizen, was charged with running an illegal gambling
operation -- a rare legal move against a member of Hun Sen's powerful family.
But while
the raids were welcomed in a country teeming with official corruption, a court
order to slaughter all 92 birds set off a flurry of criticism Thursday as
netizens cried foul over the animals being given a harsher sentence than the
people involved.
Scores of
people were initially detained in the police raid, but most have since been
released after receiving light suspended sentences, according to local media.
"Warrant
to kill chickens! Where are the chicken owners, aren't they freed?" Hing
Soksan wrote on Facebook, where photos of the slaughter have been circulating.
"The
court's achievement by the end of 2017: death sentence for 92 fighting
cocks," another Facebook user quipped about a justice system many decry as
toothless against the graft underpinning Hun Sen's authoritarian regime.
Roeun Nara,
Kandal province's deputy police chief, confirmed that the birds were killed on
Wednesday following a warrant from the provincial court.
"We
gave the chickens to our forces to eat," he told AFP, brushing off the
online criticism.
The court
document, seen by AFP on Thursday, said the slaughter was ordered "to
prevent the offense from happening again and to speed up the investigation
proceedings."
Cambodian police slaughter and consume 92 roosters that were seized earlier this month during a raid on an illegal cockfighting ring allegedly run by a relative of premier Hun Sen https://t.co/Gt0cwFus99 pic.twitter.com/GOwqaQbqKW— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 28, 2017
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