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Cambodian PM hits opposition chief with new defamation suit
AP / Seattle Times | 17 January 2017
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s exiled opposition leader is
facing two new defamation lawsuits stemming from a Facebook post that
accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of offering a young political operative
$1 million to attack the opposition.
Hun Sen said in his lawsuit filed Wednesday that opposition leader
Sam Rainsy’s post was false and demanded $1 million in compensation. The
political operative named in the social media post, Thy Sovantha, also
denied the accusation and filed a separate defamation case on Tuesday
that seeks $250,000.
“I
welcome Hun Sen’s complaint to Cambodia’s Kangaroo Court as its
discussion means more publicity for Hun Sen’s shameful acts,” Sam Rainsy
responded on Twitter.
The
lawsuits are the latest legal problems for Sam Rainsy, head of the
Cambodia National Rescue Party. The cases against him and other party
members are generally considered part of the prime minister’s strategy
to weaken his opponents ahead of local elections in June and a general
election in 2018.
Sam Rainsy has been in exile since November 2015 to avoid a jail term
on a defamation conviction that he had believed was covered by a royal
pardon. In 2016, the government banned his re-entry from abroad, making
it more difficult for him to fight the charges even if he chooses to
return.
Hun Sen has led Cambodia for three decades, but a strong challenge
from the Cambodia National Rescue Party in the 2013 general election
seemed to shake his grip on power.
The ruling party has been accused in the past of using violence or
threats against opponents but in recent years has stalked its foes
mostly in the courts.
In December, Sam Rainsy was
found guilty in absentia of conspiracy to incite chaos and using and
falsifying public documents. His Facebook page had reposted from a
fellow party member several poorly translated documents suggesting that
Hun Sen’s government had signed a treaty ceding territory to neighboring
Vietnam, Cambodia’s traditional enemy.
Eleven opposition party members and activists who received long
prison sentences for insurrection meanwhile appeared at Cambodia’s
Supreme Court for a procedural hearing on their appeals. They received
sentences ranging from seven to 20 years in July 2015.
Meach Sovannara, an opposition spokesman serving a 20-year sentence,
said he and his colleagues had little faith they would receive justice
from the court.
“We are political prisoners, therefore our cases can be solved throughout politics only,” he said.
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