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| Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (L) shakes hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, (R) during a ceremony marking Cambodia's Independence Day in Phnom Penh, Nov. 9, 2016. AFP |
Cambodia's King Grants Royal Pardon to Kem Sokha
RFA | 2 Decemer 2016
Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha received a royal pardon on
Friday, freeing him from serving a five-month jail sentence and setting
the stage for an easing of a year of political tensions as the
authoritarian Southeast Asian country heads into election in 2017 and
2018.
The pardon for Kem Sokha, acting leader of the Cambodia National
Rescue Party (CNRP), was pardoned by King Norodom Sihamoni following a
request from Prime Minister Hun Sen, government and CNRP officials said.
Kem Sokha had been hiding out in the party’s headquarters in Phnom
Penh since police attempted to arrest him in May for ignoring court
orders to appear as a witness in a pair of defamation cases related to
his alleged affair with a hairdresser.
After a one-hour trial on Sept. 9, Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge
Keo Mony sentenced Kem Sokha to five months in prison and an 800,000-
riel (U.S. $200) fine for failing to appear in one of the related cases.
On Thursday, Kem Sokha wrote a letter to Hun Sen asking him to
request a royal pardon. On Friday, Hun Sen wrote a letter to Sihamoni,
who pardoned Kem Sokha later that day.
“The pardon was granted to Kem Sokha who wrote the letter to Samdech
[honorific] Prime Minister Hun Sen and admitted the truth,” said ruling
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Eysan.
Sok Eysan did not elaborate on what Kem Sokha had admitted.
Kem Sokha had always maintained that his legal problems were
politically motivated, and most independent analysts had agreed with
him, viewing the cases against them as part of CPP efforts to hobble the
opposition before local elections in 2017 and a parliament poll in
2018.
CNRP spokesman Yem Ponhearith confirmed that Hun Sen’s letter to Sihamoni had no strings attached.
“It was unconditional. It was a political solution between Khmer and Khmer,” he said.
Yem Ponhearith added that the party has received calls from families
of other jailed CNRP activists and a National Election Committee
(NEC) official asking Kem Sokha to seek royal pardons.
“We continue to work hard on this. We are optimistic that there will a political solution for their release also,” he said.
Kem Sokha wrote a thank-you letter to Hun Sen for working to get the royal pardon.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision is appropriate. It shows Cambodia
and the world that we Khmer politicians are very forgiving and
considerate. It shows that we are civilized people and strong believers
in Buddhism,” read the letter, seen by RFA’s Khmer Service.
He also wrote a letter to thank King Sihamoni.
Dear Readers worldwide:
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