Preap In ( km, ព្រាប អ៊ិន, 1938–1964) was a Cambodian political dissident of the 1950s–1960s.
A high-level cadre of the
Khmer Serei
The Khmer Serei ( km, ខ្មែរសេរី ; "Free Khmer") were an anti-communist and anti-monarchist guerrilla force founded by Cambodian nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh. In 1959, he published 'The Manifesto of the Khmer Serei' claiming that ...
, a rightist militia formed to oppose the regime of Prince
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
, In is remembered largely for an unsuccessful 1963 attempt to 'negotiate' directly with Sihanouk, resulting in his arrest and public execution by
firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
.
Biography
In was born in
Kampong Trach
Kampong Trach District ( km, ស្រុកកំពង់ត្រាច) is one of 8 districts in Kampot Province and it is located at the eastern part bordering Vietnam to the east, Banteay Meas District to the north, Kep Province to the west ...
,
Kampot Kampot may refer to:
*Kampot (city), a city in southern Cambodia
*Kampot, an alternative spelling of the Slavic drink Kompot
*Kampot Province, province of Cambodia
* Kampot Municipality, a municipality in Cambodia
* Kampot Airport, an airport in Ca ...
, into a farming family, and was the nephew of
In Tam
In Tam ( km, អ៊ិន តាំ ; 22 September 19161 April 2006) was a Cambodian politician who once served as the prime minister of the Khmer Republic. He served in that position from 6 May 1973 to 9 December 1973, and had a long career in ...
, a provincial governor and prominent Cambodian politician of the post-independence years. In studied engineering in
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
; like Tam, he was a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, a broadly leftist, pro-independence party that was absorbed into Sihanouk's
Sangkum
The Sangkum Reastr Niyum ( km, សង្គមរាស្ត្រនិយម, , ;Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Langu ...
movement in the later 1950s.
At some point In joined the
Khmer Serei
The Khmer Serei ( km, ខ្មែរសេរី ; "Free Khmer") were an anti-communist and anti-monarchist guerrilla force founded by Cambodian nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh. In 1959, he published 'The Manifesto of the Khmer Serei' claiming that ...
, an anti-communist and anti-monarchist guerrilla movement founded by the exiled politician
Son Ngoc Thanh
Sơn Ngọc Thành ( km, សឺង ង៉ុកថាញ់; 7 December 1908 – 8 August 1977) was a Cambodian nationalist and republican politician, with a long history as a rebel and (for brief periods) a government minister.
Early li ...
; the Khmer Serei operated largely in areas on the Thai and South Vietnamese borders, and were thought to be at least partly funded by the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
. Sihanouk was later to describe In as "one of the right-hand men" of Son Ngoc Thanh.
[Norodom Sihanouk, ''My War with the CIA'', 1972, p.116]
Arrest
Preap In's uncle,
In Tam
In Tam ( km, អ៊ិន តាំ ; 22 September 19161 April 2006) was a Cambodian politician who once served as the prime minister of the Khmer Republic. He served in that position from 6 May 1973 to 9 December 1973, and had a long career in ...
, is thought to have met with his nephew and offered assurances that In would be given safe-conduct to negotiate directly with Sihanouk in the National Assembly. Sihanouk was to describe In as mistakenly supposing he was to negotiate Sihanouk's "surrender", though this is likely to be an exaggeration.
It seems that In put forward a proposal involving the return of Thanh to Cambodia, though whether this was a genuine coup plot or merely an amnesty for Thanh remains unclear.
[Prince Sihanouk and the New Order in Southeast Asia]
, declassified CIA staff study (ESAU XXVI), p.124
Preap In and an associate, Saing San (described as a
chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.
Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
at the Royal Palace) were arrested in Takeo on 19 November 1963; they were brought to
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
and displayed in cages in public.
[Corfield, J. ''Khmers Stand Up! a history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975'', CSAS, 1994, p.34] Although San was soon to be released, In was brought before the National Assembly, where he readily 'confessed' that his organisation, the Khmer Serei, was funded and controlled by the CIA with the intention of overthrowing Sihanouk. Sihanouk asked the assembly to decide In's fate, and interpreted the response as a demand for the death penalty.
[ESAU XXVI, p.126]
He was then handed over to a military tribunal, who sentenced him to death; "in his case, I had no inhibitions in signing the death warrant", commented Sihanouk.
The Preap In affair was used by Sihanouk to underline his rejection of American aid from 1963.
Execution
In was executed by firing squad at
Trapeang Kraleung,
Kampong Speu Province, in January 1964.
The execution was filmed, and the fifteen-minute newsreel was shown in cinemas across Cambodia for a month prior to the main feature; many Cambodians were deeply shocked by the film, which remained in their memories for many years.
[Short, P. ''Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare'', Henry Holt, 2005, p.156] As a result, Preap In is still remembered in Cambodia as a figure of opposition to the Sangkum: the current Cambodian Prime Minister,
Hun Sen
Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...
, had several times threatened to broadcast the film of In's execution as part of his public disagreements with Sihanouk.
Hun Sen s’agace des critiques de l’entourage de l’ancien roi
', ''Cambodge Soir'', 05-Apr-2005
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preap, In
Cambodian anti-communists
People executed by Cambodia by firing squad
Filmed executions
1938 births
1964 deaths
People from Kampot province
Democratic Party (Cambodia) politicians
Executed politicians
Executed Cambodian people