PM warns he will sue anyone who defames his ruling party
In this file photo taken on Sept. 1, 2022 Cambodian opponent in exile and leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy arrives at a courthouse in Paris, accused in a defamation lawsuit filed by Cambodia’s prime minister. A Cambodian court handed out jail terms on Dec 22 to 36 opposition figures, including exiled leader Sam Rainsy, in the latest mass trial against opponents of strongman ruler Hun Sen, a rights group and lawyer said. (Photo: AFP)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned he will sue anyone who defames his long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) as a Phnom Penh court sentenced 36 people to between five and seven years in prison for plotting to overthrow his administration.
Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy and vice president Mu Sochua, a dual American-Cambodian citizen, were among those convicted in this country’s fifth mass trial of dissidents and both were sentenced to seven years in absentia.
According to a head count by Voice of Democracy (VOD) just four remain in the country to answer charges in regards to the alleged 2021 plot linked to Mu Sochua’s attempts to return to Phnom Penh to face court on similar allegations made two years earlier.
However, her Cambodian passport was canceled and she was not granted a visa for her American passport. Sam Rainsy has been convicted on many charges including a life sentence for attempting to “cede territory” to indigenous groups.
“Those convicted were also stripped of their political rights”
The CNRP was outlawed by the courts in 2017 amid widespread anti-government protests and a crackdown followed, accompanied by unprecedented legal action, enabling the CPP to win every seat in parliament at elections a year later.
Prosecutions were stepped-up after Sam Rainsy threatened to return in 2019, stage a popular rebellion and oust the prime minister. About 120 people were convicted in the first three mass trials while a fourth remains suspended.
Those convicted were also stripped of their political rights for the next five years and will not be able to contest next July’s general election.
Verdicts in the fifth trial were handed down as Hun Sen declared those who defamed the CPP ‘must be sued’ and that the recent lawsuit against Son Chhay, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, is to eradicate the culture of defamation.
“Without the CPP’s fight for justice, the party would be continuously defamed by the opposition,” Hun Sen said, according to a dispatch by the semi-official Fresh News service.
Son Chhay was sued for US$1 million after he criticized June commune elections when the Candlelight Party, formed out of the remnants of the CNRP, emerged as a major force with about 22 percent of the popular vote.
“These election results do not reflect the will of the people”
CPP lawyer Ky Tech highlighted remarks by Son Chhay from an interview with the Cambodia Daily on June 7, where he said: “These election results do not reflect the will of the people who were intimidated. Their votes were bought and stolen”.
He said such remarks “were considered fraudulent, misrepresented, information [sic], fake and ill-intended purpose to seriously damage the reputation of the CPP who won the election”.
Son Chhay’s case is before appeal.
Despite this, his two homes have been seized by the courts as security to ensure payment of the damages, awarded to the CPP and the National Election Committee.
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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