AFP
Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh has appealed a conviction for which he was sentenced to prison, his lawyer said Friday.
He had been tried over the illegal sale of his former political party's headquarters.
The appeal will be a test of whether Cambodia's judiciary can act independently, or will buckle under pressure from the ousted royalist party leader's political opponents, lawyer Liv Sovanna told AFP.
"The prince has never accepted the sentence," he said, adding that the appeal was filed Monday, but that no hearing date has been set.
Prince Ranariddh, who was sacked as president of the royalist Funcinpec party last October, has remained overseas since being sentenced in March to 18 months in prison over the 3.6 million dollar real estate deal.
The conviction was another blow against the embattled prince, a former premier who for years had been Prime Minister Hun Sen's coalition government partner.
Following his ouster from Funcinpec, the prince's fortunes began fading as his former party allies shunned him and an adultery complaint filed by his wife further battered his reputation.
After leaving Funcinpec, the prince formed his own political organisation, the Norodom Ranariddh Party, in a bid to rescue his political career.
But the party fared miserably in local elections in April, failing to pick up any commune administration seats.
Prince Ranariddh has faced jail before, but was saved by a royal pardon from his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk, in 1998 after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup with the Khmer Rouge a year earlier.
He had been tried over the illegal sale of his former political party's headquarters.
The appeal will be a test of whether Cambodia's judiciary can act independently, or will buckle under pressure from the ousted royalist party leader's political opponents, lawyer Liv Sovanna told AFP.
"The prince has never accepted the sentence," he said, adding that the appeal was filed Monday, but that no hearing date has been set.
Prince Ranariddh, who was sacked as president of the royalist Funcinpec party last October, has remained overseas since being sentenced in March to 18 months in prison over the 3.6 million dollar real estate deal.
The conviction was another blow against the embattled prince, a former premier who for years had been Prime Minister Hun Sen's coalition government partner.
Following his ouster from Funcinpec, the prince's fortunes began fading as his former party allies shunned him and an adultery complaint filed by his wife further battered his reputation.
After leaving Funcinpec, the prince formed his own political organisation, the Norodom Ranariddh Party, in a bid to rescue his political career.
But the party fared miserably in local elections in April, failing to pick up any commune administration seats.
Prince Ranariddh has faced jail before, but was saved by a royal pardon from his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk, in 1998 after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup with the Khmer Rouge a year earlier.
2 comments:
Dr. Lao,
Where are you? Finally, someone is quietly following your advice.
He should have done that long ago and perhaps received pardon already.
Angel
I disagree with the statement that this is a test case for the independent of the judiciary. The fact that the lawsuit against the Prince now is political, but there are legitimate reasons for the lawsuit. He did sell the proporty and according to history and his style, he has probably done so with no party interest in mind. The fact is he has the style of a dictator (only weaken by women) and he yearn for power and women (has shown in the past and even in the FUNCIPEC's counstitution during his presidency that stated the Prince is the President for life and an article saying he has the final say in all decisions).
I also disagree with the request for Pardon. If the objectives are to clear the name, to make the court become more independent, and to truly show how the Powerfuls call all shots, then asking for pardon will do the opposite.
It's time for the Prince to become a man--take up the fight and take on the battle. If he is changing at all, he wouldn't run to his brother (used to be his father) again.
The right things to do: come back to Cambodia; file for appeal and let's play hardball! The worst he get is being jailed for 18 month, become my hero and revive his political career--and will die with his eyes closed.
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