Government Says Asking Sweden to Return Thak Lay is ‘Useless’

Cambodia Daily | 21 November 2016

The Interior Ministry on Sunday accused unspecified foreigners of “trafficking” opposition Senator Thak Lany to Sweden, but said it would be futile to ask Stockholm to send her back.

Ms. Lany, an opposition senator for the legacy Sam Rainsy Party, fled Cambodia soon after Prime Minister Hun Sen sued her in July over a speech in which she allegedly accused him of ordering the July 10 assassination of popular political analyst Kem Ley.

Thak Lany in a photograph posted to her Facebook page.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted her in absentia of defamation and incitement on Thursday and sentenced her to 18 months in jail.

After Thursday’s verdict, Ms. Lany’s husband, Chhun Bun San, said that the U.N. had helped get his wife out of the country and that she had been granted political asylum in Sweden. Sweden’s Migration Agency, which handles asylum requests, said Ms. Lany received a residence permit on September 2, but declined to discuss her case further.

Though the prison sentence was accompanied by an arrest warrant, Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said on Sunday that Cambodia was unlikely to ask Sweden to extradite the senator.

“It is useless,” he said of an extradition request. “If we ask them to bring [her] back, maybe their people will not follow our request.”

“What is important is we have convicted her in this country,” he added. “She’ll come in time. The arrest warrant is still valid.”

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