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| The fate of Kem Sokha is in many ways directly linked with the fate of Cambodian democracy. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images) |
For The Sake Of Cambodian Democracy, Drop Charges Against Kem Sokha
Forbes | 8 September 2016
The clock is ticking for Kem Sokha, acting president of the
opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). He has been targeted
by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is trying to undermine the competitive
institutions necessary for a healthy democracy in Cambodia.
President Obama, currently in Laos for the East Asia Summit and other
meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), should
use this opportunity to call on Cambodia to drop charges against Kem
Sokha. On Friday, September 9, Sokha will be called to stand before a
Cambodian court for failure to appear for a May 26 court hearing. That
hearing was to examine charges regarding an alleged affair. Sokha has
been under de facto house arrest at CNRP headquarters since his failure
to appear.
The Cambodian constitution grants parliamentary immunity to acting
government officials, so the charges against Sokha are out of order. If
convicted, he would serve a six-month prison sentence.
While the jail time is short, it would cost Sokha his political
career—and the CNRP their only major in-country leader—because convicted
criminals are barred from holding political office.
Let's make a deal. Drop all charges against Kem Sokha. But he must agree to face trials with the two girls. Give justice to these two girls. There are two girls who have disputes with Kem Sokha.
ReplyDelete1. Mom Srey. She alleged Kem Sokha cheated her with false promises of money, house, ... for sex.
2. Thy Sovantha. She directly asked Kem Sokha to clarify the voice on the sex audio record which said nasty sexual things about her.
So, how do you propose to bring justice for these two girls? Kem Sokha refused to present himself to address the issue. Perhaps he has been clean all along, but he needs to address the issue, like this:
"I did not have any sexual relationship with that girl."
"That was not my voice on the audio record [talking dirty about Sovantha]."