Cambodian foreign minister castigates Finland over fugitive's visa
DPA
Phnom Penh - Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong lashed out at the Finnish government Thursday after it granted fugitive disgraced former police chief Heng Pov a visa. Hor Namhong held a press conference to circulate a letter he sent to his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomiorja, dated Thursday, in which he accused Finland of harbouring Cambodian criminals.
"It is with great consternation that we learn that your government has decided to issue a visa to Heng Pov, a convicted criminal," the letter read.
"This is the second time a convicted Cambodian criminal has been offered shelter in your country," it continued, referring to Sok Yoeun, who was wanted in Cambodia to stand trial for an alleged assassination attempt on Prime Minister Hun Sen. Sok Yoeun, called "a pawn in a bigger political game" by Amnesty International and granted refugee status by the United Nations, was granted asylum in Finland after he was released from a Thai prison in 2004.
Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov fled Cambodia in July, weeks before a string of arrest warrants were issued against him in connection with a host of high-level assassinations and kidnappings.
He was convicted in absentia in September of masterminding the 2003 shooting murder of senior judge Sok Sethamony and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Since fleeing Cambodia, Heng Pov has been seeking political asylum, claiming to have information tainting the highest levels of the Cambodian government and accusing powerful interests of framing him to shut him up.
He was embroiled in a legal battle to avoid deportation from Malaysia on visa overstay charges when Finland announced it had granted him a visa, greatly increasing his chances of avoiding deportation back to Cambodia to face trial.
"There are currently many criminals serving jail terms in Cambodian prisons. We would be happy to send them all [to Finland]," Hor Namhong wrote in his letter, unusually strong for a diplomatic missive.
Hor Namhong told reporters that Finland's decision gave Heng Pov free reign to defame the Cambodian government, which has denied all his claims.
Other Cambodians to have been granted asylum in Finland include the wife of slain union activist Chea Vichea, the investigation into whose murder was overseen by Heng Pov.
The two men convicted of Vichea's murder charged they were forced to confess by Heng Pov at gunpoint, and Heng Pov is himself now being investigated in connection with that killing.
"It is with great consternation that we learn that your government has decided to issue a visa to Heng Pov, a convicted criminal," the letter read.
"This is the second time a convicted Cambodian criminal has been offered shelter in your country," it continued, referring to Sok Yoeun, who was wanted in Cambodia to stand trial for an alleged assassination attempt on Prime Minister Hun Sen. Sok Yoeun, called "a pawn in a bigger political game" by Amnesty International and granted refugee status by the United Nations, was granted asylum in Finland after he was released from a Thai prison in 2004.
Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov fled Cambodia in July, weeks before a string of arrest warrants were issued against him in connection with a host of high-level assassinations and kidnappings.
He was convicted in absentia in September of masterminding the 2003 shooting murder of senior judge Sok Sethamony and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Since fleeing Cambodia, Heng Pov has been seeking political asylum, claiming to have information tainting the highest levels of the Cambodian government and accusing powerful interests of framing him to shut him up.
He was embroiled in a legal battle to avoid deportation from Malaysia on visa overstay charges when Finland announced it had granted him a visa, greatly increasing his chances of avoiding deportation back to Cambodia to face trial.
"There are currently many criminals serving jail terms in Cambodian prisons. We would be happy to send them all [to Finland]," Hor Namhong wrote in his letter, unusually strong for a diplomatic missive.
Hor Namhong told reporters that Finland's decision gave Heng Pov free reign to defame the Cambodian government, which has denied all his claims.
Other Cambodians to have been granted asylum in Finland include the wife of slain union activist Chea Vichea, the investigation into whose murder was overseen by Heng Pov.
The two men convicted of Vichea's murder charged they were forced to confess by Heng Pov at gunpoint, and Heng Pov is himself now being investigated in connection with that killing.
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