VENERABLE TIM SAKHORN TRIAL: A MOCKERY OF JUSTICE
PRESS RELEASE: 08 November 2007
Pennsauken, NJ, USA
On November 8, 2007, the Vietnam Court of An Giang Province brought Venerable Tim Sakhorn to the court for a trial after imprisoning him since June 30, 2007.
In June 2007, Venerable Tim Sakhorn was arrested, defrocked, and deported to Vietnam by Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and the Cambodian government. Disturbing details reveal that Vietnam arrested and was interrogating Venerable Tim Sakhorn right the defrocking. Tim Sakhorn. Cambodia government were flip-flopping with the whereabouts of Venerable Tim Sakhorn.
On July 12, 2007, Venerable Tim Sakhorn was seen at a police station in Can Tho City and his whereabouts were reported to KKF. KKF promptly sent a report to the US State Department and other UN Human Rights organizations to notify them that Venerable Tim Sakhorn was being interrogated in Can Tho city, Vietnam.
On August 1, 2007, Vietnam admitted that it had arrested Venerable Tim Sakhorn for attempting to enter Vietnam illegally. However, instead of accusing Venerable Tim Sakhorn for the crime of entering the country illegally, Vietnam accused him for the crime of “Sabotaging the unification policy” under Article 87 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Faced with a lack of evidence for the above crime, Vietnamese officials proceeded to arrest and torture two Khmer-Krom women, Mrs. Neang Phe and Mrs. Neang De. They were forced to become witnesses and say that Venerable Tim Sakhorn was guilty. On August 23, 2007, the Khmer program of Radio Free Asia reported on how those two innocent Khmer-Krom women were threatened and tortured by the Vietnam authorities.
Venerable Tim Sakhorn is a Cambodian citizen. His parents and siblings currently live in Cambodia. If Vietnam intends to maintain credible diplomatic ties with Cambodia, its government should invite the representatives of the Cambodia government as well as Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s parents and siblings to attend the trial. None were presented at the trial. Is this a real friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia that Venerable Tim Sakhorn had tried to undermine or merely an excuse to halt human right movement? If Cambodia is an actually Independent country, why is Cambodia government scared to stand up to protect its own citizen?
Vietnam had tried to force Khmer-Krom famers including Mr. Chau In, to be a witness at the trial; however he refused to go because he felt that it was a set up. Mr. Chau In and other Khmer-Krom farmers have been filing complaints to demand returning their farmlands that have been confiscated by the Vietnamese authority. Instead of returning their farmlands back, Vietnam authority has used traditional dirty tactics to frame Mr. Chau In and other Khmer-Krom farmers and accused them of contacting Venerable Tim Sakhorn and contributes to undermining the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Khmer-Krom residents in An Giang province are aware that the Vietnamese government does not have a free and fair trial for Venerable Tim Sakhorn. Thus, many of the invited residents did not want to attend. At 4 a.m. of the November 8, 2007, the Vietnam authority sent a car to pick up Khmer-Krom Buddhist monks from a couple temples in Swaiton and Kro-Bao districts and some Khmer-Krom people to attend the trial to show to the world that Vietnam does allow Khmer-Krom to attend Venerable Tim Sakhorn trial.
At the trial, no lawyer was assigned to represent Venerable Tim Sakhorn and with no means to defend himself, the Vietnamese judge read the following,
We are concerned about the safety and well being of Venerable Tim Sakhorn after this trial. There is no guarantee that Venerable Tim Sakhorn will not be placed in prison and be relocated to various provinces to avoid the truth being revealed.
The trial of Venerable Tim Sakhorn is a mockery of justice. It shows that the Khmer-Krom people have no rights to defend for themselves under the Vietnamese Communist regime. Not on one occasion did we hear the testimony of Venerable Tim Sakhorn since his arrest in Cambodia. It is also disconcerting to see the Cambodian government violating its own constitution by sending its own citizens to let other country judge and imprison. If Cambodia cannot protect its own citizen, especially the Khmer-Krom people who escaped the oppression of the Vietnamese Communist regime to live in Cambodia, then it should issue an official document to give Khmer-Krom people in Cambodia as refugee status so the UNHCR can protect them.
The Khmer-Krom people in Kampuchea-Krom will continue to be denied justice if they do not have the fundamental freedom as stated in international treaties and declarations. If Vietnam keeps violating the Human Rights of the Khmer-Krom people, the demand for the basic freedom of the Khmer-Krom people will never stop.
On behalf of the Khmer Krom people, we seek your help in an international cooperation to urge Vietnam to respect the Human Rights of the Khmer-Krom people, so the mockery trial as seen in Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s case will not happen again with the innocent Khmer-Krom people.
Respectfully Yours,
Thach Ngoc Thach
President of Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation
In June 2007, Venerable Tim Sakhorn was arrested, defrocked, and deported to Vietnam by Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and the Cambodian government. Disturbing details reveal that Vietnam arrested and was interrogating Venerable Tim Sakhorn right the defrocking. Tim Sakhorn. Cambodia government were flip-flopping with the whereabouts of Venerable Tim Sakhorn.
On July 12, 2007, Venerable Tim Sakhorn was seen at a police station in Can Tho City and his whereabouts were reported to KKF. KKF promptly sent a report to the US State Department and other UN Human Rights organizations to notify them that Venerable Tim Sakhorn was being interrogated in Can Tho city, Vietnam.
On August 1, 2007, Vietnam admitted that it had arrested Venerable Tim Sakhorn for attempting to enter Vietnam illegally. However, instead of accusing Venerable Tim Sakhorn for the crime of entering the country illegally, Vietnam accused him for the crime of “Sabotaging the unification policy” under Article 87 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
Faced with a lack of evidence for the above crime, Vietnamese officials proceeded to arrest and torture two Khmer-Krom women, Mrs. Neang Phe and Mrs. Neang De. They were forced to become witnesses and say that Venerable Tim Sakhorn was guilty. On August 23, 2007, the Khmer program of Radio Free Asia reported on how those two innocent Khmer-Krom women were threatened and tortured by the Vietnam authorities.
Venerable Tim Sakhorn is a Cambodian citizen. His parents and siblings currently live in Cambodia. If Vietnam intends to maintain credible diplomatic ties with Cambodia, its government should invite the representatives of the Cambodia government as well as Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s parents and siblings to attend the trial. None were presented at the trial. Is this a real friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia that Venerable Tim Sakhorn had tried to undermine or merely an excuse to halt human right movement? If Cambodia is an actually Independent country, why is Cambodia government scared to stand up to protect its own citizen?
Vietnam had tried to force Khmer-Krom famers including Mr. Chau In, to be a witness at the trial; however he refused to go because he felt that it was a set up. Mr. Chau In and other Khmer-Krom farmers have been filing complaints to demand returning their farmlands that have been confiscated by the Vietnamese authority. Instead of returning their farmlands back, Vietnam authority has used traditional dirty tactics to frame Mr. Chau In and other Khmer-Krom farmers and accused them of contacting Venerable Tim Sakhorn and contributes to undermining the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Khmer-Krom residents in An Giang province are aware that the Vietnamese government does not have a free and fair trial for Venerable Tim Sakhorn. Thus, many of the invited residents did not want to attend. At 4 a.m. of the November 8, 2007, the Vietnam authority sent a car to pick up Khmer-Krom Buddhist monks from a couple temples in Swaiton and Kro-Bao districts and some Khmer-Krom people to attend the trial to show to the world that Vietnam does allow Khmer-Krom to attend Venerable Tim Sakhorn trial.
At the trial, no lawyer was assigned to represent Venerable Tim Sakhorn and with no means to defend himself, the Vietnamese judge read the following,
“According to the judgment, Ven. Tim Sakhorn must be sentenced to 15 years. Since Tim Sakhorn admitted his crime (without letting him to defend himself), so he will be imprisoned for 1 year.”In an attempt to make it legal so that they can imprison a Cambodia citizen, the Vietnamese judge proceeded to say,
“Since Tim Sakhorn was already imprisoned since June 30, Venerable Tim Sakhorn does not need to be in prison. Vietnam will take Tim Sakhorn around the country to see the development of Vietnam nowadays and will let him free after the one year sentence is over.”Based on the judgment, Vietnam must be a “very big and very developed” country that's why it takes couple months for Ven. Tim Sakhorn to see all of it.
We are concerned about the safety and well being of Venerable Tim Sakhorn after this trial. There is no guarantee that Venerable Tim Sakhorn will not be placed in prison and be relocated to various provinces to avoid the truth being revealed.
The trial of Venerable Tim Sakhorn is a mockery of justice. It shows that the Khmer-Krom people have no rights to defend for themselves under the Vietnamese Communist regime. Not on one occasion did we hear the testimony of Venerable Tim Sakhorn since his arrest in Cambodia. It is also disconcerting to see the Cambodian government violating its own constitution by sending its own citizens to let other country judge and imprison. If Cambodia cannot protect its own citizen, especially the Khmer-Krom people who escaped the oppression of the Vietnamese Communist regime to live in Cambodia, then it should issue an official document to give Khmer-Krom people in Cambodia as refugee status so the UNHCR can protect them.
The Khmer-Krom people in Kampuchea-Krom will continue to be denied justice if they do not have the fundamental freedom as stated in international treaties and declarations. If Vietnam keeps violating the Human Rights of the Khmer-Krom people, the demand for the basic freedom of the Khmer-Krom people will never stop.
On behalf of the Khmer Krom people, we seek your help in an international cooperation to urge Vietnam to respect the Human Rights of the Khmer-Krom people, so the mockery trial as seen in Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s case will not happen again with the innocent Khmer-Krom people.
Respectfully Yours,
Thach Ngoc Thach
President of Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation
5 comments:
Oh, shut the fuck up, Ah Khmer-Yuon idiot.
Anonymous,
You, yourself write like a complete asinine reject. If you should feel so inclined to write a rebuttal that does nothing but mud-sling, how about adding some evidence or a valid point to back up your views. Oh wait, you don't have enough capacity in your brain to form actual coherent sentences. Do us a favor and stop having opinions because it clearly hurts you every time you try.
Oh yeah? And were is yours complete sentences and sensible ideas, Baybeh?
AH YUON MAY CONTROLLED KHMER KROM LAND AND OUR PEOPLE.
BUT, AH YUON WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DESTROY THE KHMER SPIRIT AND DETERMINATION.
BROTHER AND SISTER OUR REAL AIM IS TO STRUGGLING FOR FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, INDEPENDENCE AND LIBERATION FROM THE TYRANNY.
KKFL.
Hey, what is "KKFL", Khmer Krom Fucking Losers?
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