Hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral on Monday of a Cambodian political commentator gunned down in broad daylight, as fear rippled through the nation's civil society community.
Kem Ley, a prominent political analyst and pro-democracy campaigner, was shot dead on Sunday as he drank coffee at a convenience store attached to a petrol station in the capital Phnom Penh.
The slaying of the 46-year-old comes as tensions boil between premier Hun Sen and the country's political opposition, who accuse the strongman ruler of tying them up in spurious legal cases and deploying thugs to intimidate them.
Buddhist monks led a large crowd, many wearing black and white, at a temple in Phnom Penh where Kem Ley's body was laid out, covered by Cambodia's national flag and strewn with flowers.
One distressed mourner cut his arm with a razor blade in front of the victim's body, according to an AFP journalist at the scene, in an act of protest at the silencing of the respected analyst.
Several women carrying joss sticks wept over the body, their hands clasped together in prayer.
A man who identified himself as Chuob Samlab -- an unlikely Khmer name which translates as "meet to kill" -- is due to appear before a Phnom Penh court later Monday after allegedly confessing to shooting Kem Ley over an unpaid debt.
But the suspect's motive as well as his name have been questioned by activists in a country where the rule of law is threadbare and criticism of powerful figures carries great risk.
Authorities also cast doubt on his identity, but they insist they have the right man in custody.
"No parents would give their kid that name," General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the ministry of interior, told AFP.
But based on CCTV footage he is "the real killer", he added.
'Do not be cowed' 
The brazen murder has rattled the activist community in the capital, where Kem Ley's advocacy group -- 'Khmer for Khmer' -- did much of its work in support of land and worker rights.
"I always worry for my safety... but the murder of Kem Ley deepens our fear now," Am Sam Ath, of rights activist Licadho, told AFP.
"But even with the fear I will continue my work. We already know what may happen to us," he said.
Another civil society worker said it was "crucial" that justice is served.
"However all too often in Cambodia we see farcical judicial proceedings where the real perpetrators enjoy impunity," Chak Sopheap, of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told AFP, adding he hoped activists "will not be cowed by his murder".
Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled for 31 years, described the murder as "a heinous act" and ordered authorities to bring anyone behind Kem Ley's murder to book.
"I hope that other politicians will not politicise this case to incite (people), that would lead the nation into chaos," he added.
Kem Ley advocated a new era of clean politics in a notoriously corrupt nation which is expected to hold a general election in 2018.
Hun Sen, a former army commander who defected from the Khmer Rouge, has held power alongside a small but powerful coterie of political allies that have become enormously wealthy during his 31-year rule.
But his tenure in office is under threat in a country with a young population who are tiring of corruption.
Scores of government critics and rights workers have been arrested in recent months while others have been tied up in ongoing legal cases.
Washington led the international outcry over Kem Ley's murder with State Department spokesman John Kirby urging Cambodian authorities to ensure a "thorough and impartial" probe.