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| Heavily armed Royal Cambodian Armed Forces members stand guard at the Phnom Penh International Airport in November last year after rumours Sam Rainsy would be returning to the country. Heng Chivoan |
Rainsy ban to protect airport, official claims
Phnom Penh Post | 27 October 2016
The official who issued the ban on opposition leader Sam
Rainsy’s return to Cambodia defended his decision in a radio interview
on Tuesday, explaining that the directive was issued to avoid damage to
airport infrastructure in the event that demonstrations broke out.
The ban on Rainsy’s return
– and even on airplanes allowing him to board inbound flights – was
issued by the Council of Ministers earlier this month, nearly a year
after the CNRP leader again fled to Paris to avoid arrest. The ban,
which amounts to state-sanctioned exile, has been roundly criticised by
observers.
Tek Reth Samrach, a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers
who issued the ban, said in an interview with Vayo FM that his decision
was justified.
“We have to prevent it in advance. We see that his trip to Cambodia
in the future under these political circumstances will lead to
demonstrations,” Reth Samrach said. “When he enters, he would be
arrested. There will be demonstrations, there will protests.”
“At the airport, there is a lot of infrastructure worth hundreds of
millions of dollars. And each airplane is worth hundreds of millions of
dollars,” the official said. “On behalf of the authorities, you have to
take the responsibility to implement your obligations.”
“In this case, I am responsible,” he said. “For example, if he came
and the airplane was on fire, who would be responsible? It’s only me in
the end.”
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