
PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy recanted accusations that Prime Minister Hun Sen was behind a deadly 1997 grenade attack and other violent acts against his party, in an apparent bid to return to the country without being arrested.
The about-face by Sam Rainsy, who was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison for defaming Hun Sen in December, came after government lawyers said they would drop defamation complaints against seven high-profile activists.
In a letter read out on state-run television, Sam Rainsy said he "regretted having acted improperly against the prime minister, the accusations that the prime minister was behind the grenade attack".
He has been in France since fleeing the country early last year after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
Sam Rainsy was found guilty of defaming Hun Sen in part for his long-standing claims that the premier had orchestrated the grenade attack on an opposition party rally that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more.
The verdict sparked international outrage from rights groups and foreign diplomats, who said Hun Sen was using the courts to crush political dissent.
Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen's fiercest political rival, also went back on accusations that the prime minister was planning to kill five party members and civic leaders, including the opposition leader himself.
"From now on I will change my attitude in order to end this issue and avoid it from happening again," Sam Rainsy said.
"I have decided not to address individual issues at all, but to focus on national issues that need to be resolved peacefully by respecting each other.
"I am really happy to note that the political situation in Cambodia has eased in recent days," he wrote.
In a letter of reply, also read on television, Hun Sen thanked Sam Rainsy for his words "that repaired the damage to me".
"Your letter seemed to end the dispute between you and me," he said.
"I strongly hope (you) can return to political life in Cambodia very soon."
Sam Rainsy's apology was the latest in a string of public statements made by critics of Hun Sen's government who had either been arrested or were facing punishment for defamation.
In his letter, Sam Rainsy thanked Hun Sen for urging Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni to slash the prison sentence of opposition lawmaker Cheam Channy.
In a surprise move on the eve of the first anniversary of the legislator's imprisonment, Hun Sen asked the king to cut Cheam Channy's prison sentence from seven to three years.
Hours later the king approved the reduction, leaving Cheam Channy with only two years left to serve and making him eligible for an immediate royal pardon.
Cheam Channy was convicted of fraud and trying to topple the government in proceedings that were widely dismissed as a politically motivated show trial.
Sam Rainsy also applauded Hun Sen's efforts in freeing five activists arrested for criticising a border pact between Cambodia and Vietnam and accusing the premier of selling land to the country's eastern neighbour.
Hun Sen ordered the men freed on bail and withdrew his defamation complaints last month after receiving similar apologies from them.
Government lawyers said Friday they would also drop the complaints, yet court officials still have the right to continue investigating the cases, leaving the critics at risk of being arrested and facing trial.
But Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Chiv Keng told AFP Friday a heavy criminal caseload would likely see the defamation cases postponed. The statute of limitations allows for the charges to expire after three years.
No comments:
Post a Comment