Vice-president of the Candlelight Party to appeal to Supreme Court after defamation fine raised to $1 million
Son Chhay, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, speaks to the media in front of Phnom Penh Municipal court on Oct. 7. (Photo: AFP)
A Cambodian appeals court has upheld criminal defamation convictions against a leading opposition politician and ordered him to pay additional damages to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
Judge Suos Sam Ath said the Judges’ Council of the Phnom Penh Appeal Court had backed the verdict and that damages had been raised to US$1 million from $750,000.
Son Chhay, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, was convicted of defamation in October after criticizing the results of local commune elections held in June. The CPP and the National Election Commission (NEC) then sued.
The court found he had “excessively exaggerated and accused the CPP and NEC of controlling the election process” but “did not provide any evidence that these statements were true.”
“I am committed to promoting democracy in this country”
Judge Suos Sam Ath added that Son Chhay “was only laying blame and making false accusations against the National Election Committee, which is an independent institution, and the Cambodian People’s Party.”
Son Chhay said his case was political and was part of an effort to weaken the Candlelight Party ahead of next year’s general election after it emerged as the strongest opposition performer at the commune elections, winning more than 22 percent of the popular vote.
“We got what we expected,” he told UCA News, noting that not one political prosecution had been overturned on appeal since Prime Minister Hun Sen initiated a crackdown on dissent more than five years ago, alleging a plot to overthrow his government.
Hun Sen has also warned his country would return to war if his long-ruling CPP loses power while publicly backing his eldest son Hun Manet as his successor.
“I am committed to promoting democracy in this country and they are trying to force me into abandoning politics altogether,” Son Chhay said. “Cambodia has suffered enough.”
His Candlelight Party was forged out of the ashes of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which came tantalizingly close to winning the popular vote at the general election in 2013.
“Not one political case has ever been won on appeal”
Massive, often violent, street protests followed and the CNRP was outlawed by the courts in 2017.
The CPP then won all the seats contested at elections the following year amid a crackdown on dissent, which has resulted in four mass trials and convictions registered against senior leaders and their supporters.
“It is a political case and not one political case has ever been won on appeal,” Son Chhay, a dual Cambodian-Australian citizen, said.
He said he would remain in Cambodia and make a further appeal to the Supreme Court, which was expected to take another two to three months.
A court has also seized two homes belonging to Son Chhay to cover the $1 million in damages awarded to the CPP and the NEC.
“I have to wait and see what else they can do to me,” he said.
The World Justice Project ranked Cambodia second from the bottom in its Rule of Law Index 2022, at 139 out of 140 countries. Cambodia has rejected the ranking.
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