Licadho condemns the conviction of a political opponent in Cambodia after a "travesty of justice"

24-03-2009
Ka-set

Licadho condemns the “travesty of justice” that resulted, on Friday March 20th, in the conviction of Tuot Saron, a former commune chief and member of the main opposition party in Cambodia, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), who was sentenced to three years of prison for “kidnapping and illegal confinement”. A ruling that is “baseless and politically-motivated”, according to the director of the Cambodian human rights organisation in a statement published on Sunday March 22nd.

Confinement or protection?

At the time of his arrest, Tuot Saron was SRP chief in Pongro commune in Baray district, in Kampong Thom province. On Friday March 20th, he was convicted by the provincial court for his involvement, together with three other persons, in the alleged abduction of Tin Norn, a former SRP member who had expressed her wish to defect to the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Men Vannak and Hour Sarath, two of the three other accused who have fled and are in hiding, were also sentenced in absentia to three years' imprisonment, while the third, Thorn Rithy, was condemned to five years in prison. Since his arrest a year ago, Tuot Saron has consistently denied the charges against him. He claims that he and his SRP colleagues “merely brought Tim Norn from Kampong Thom to Phnom Penh after she asked them for protection from intimidation from CPP officials.”

No arrest warrant, but a speech from Hun Sen

First, Licadho notes that Tuot Saron was arrested in March 2008, “one day after Prime Minister Hun Sen gave a speech accusing SRP of intimidating former party members who had defected to the CPP.” He also “demanded that action be taken” against those responsible for the alleged confinement of Tim Norn and such “human rights abuses”. But no court warrant was produced at the time of the arrest of the local SRP official, who was therefore arrested “unlawfully”, Licaho criticises.

No evidence or witness

The human rights organisation then stresses that Tuot Saron and the three other SRP members were convicted “solely on [the basis of] the testimony of Tim Norn, and no other prosecution witnesses testified during Friday's trial [on March 20th].” Yet, the accusations made by Tim Norn herself are questioned by Licadho, who decries the “severe lack of credible evidence”: “Two days after her alleged abduction in February 2008, Tim Norn was interviewed at length by staff of Licadho and the [United Nations] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Phnom Penh”, the organisation says. “At no time did she say that she had been abducted or otherwise mistreated by SRP officials in any way.”

Courts “manipulated” by the ruling party?

“There are compelling reasons to believe that the prosecution of Tuot Saron was politically-motivated, orchestrated by the government to intimidate and threaten opposition party officials and members in the run-up to the July 2008 national [legislative] elections,” said Naly Pilorge. According to the director of Licadho, this new “travesty of justice (...) once again shows how the ruling party manipulates the courts to maintain its stranglehold on power and eliminate its opponents.” She fears that the case “will have long-lasting consequences for democracy in Cambodia (…) [and] sends a chilling message to the opposition and to voters throughout the country.”