Dec 31, 2009
DPA
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian court has issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the main opposition party after he failed to appear in court earlier this week, a government spokesman confirmed Thursday.
The move follows an incident in October in which opposition leader Sam Rainsy was accused of removing border markers between Cambodia and Vietnam, an act that riled Hanoi.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said the Svay Rieng provincial court issued the arrest warrant after Sam Rainsy missed the hearing to answer charges of racial incitement and destruction of property.
'He was meant to show up in court on the 28th [of December],' Phay Siphan told the German Press Agency dpa. 'He is out of the country so they issued a warrant on the 29th.'
Sam Rainsy was charged after he had joined villagers in Svay Rieng province and uprooted several wooden posts marking the border.He was stripped of his parliamentary immunity the following month in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
Opposition party spokesman Yim Sovann said Sam Rainsy, who is currently in France, would not return to Cambodia until a political solution to the court case was in place.
'We do not trust the court because it is a political tool of the ruling party to crack down on the opposition,' he said, adding that the opposition would petition the king to resolve the issue.
'Sam Rainsy has done nothing wrong - as a member of parliament he has to represent the people,' he said. 'This is a political problem and [it] must be solved by a political solution.'
Yim Sovann blamed the authorities for planting the demarcation poles without consulting local farmers, who object to losing land to Vietnam.
'So now [the farmers] are losing land because of these demarcation poles - the people do not agree with that because they have only a few hectares of land to feed their families, and now they are losing everything,' he said.
The two nations are currently demarcating their 1,270-kilometre long common border in a process that is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
Vietnam is a key investor in Cambodia with significant interests in agribusiness, aviation, telecoms and banking. In December the two nations signed an agreement that could result in investments worth billions of US dollars, including a deal to look for bauxite in Cambodia's border province of Mondulkiri.
Three opposition parliamentarians were stripped of their parliamentary immunity in 2009. Critics charge that the ruling Cambodian People's Party is using the courts to move against its perceived opponents in politics, the media and civil society.
The move follows an incident in October in which opposition leader Sam Rainsy was accused of removing border markers between Cambodia and Vietnam, an act that riled Hanoi.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said the Svay Rieng provincial court issued the arrest warrant after Sam Rainsy missed the hearing to answer charges of racial incitement and destruction of property.
'He was meant to show up in court on the 28th [of December],' Phay Siphan told the German Press Agency dpa. 'He is out of the country so they issued a warrant on the 29th.'
Sam Rainsy was charged after he had joined villagers in Svay Rieng province and uprooted several wooden posts marking the border.He was stripped of his parliamentary immunity the following month in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
Opposition party spokesman Yim Sovann said Sam Rainsy, who is currently in France, would not return to Cambodia until a political solution to the court case was in place.
'We do not trust the court because it is a political tool of the ruling party to crack down on the opposition,' he said, adding that the opposition would petition the king to resolve the issue.
'Sam Rainsy has done nothing wrong - as a member of parliament he has to represent the people,' he said. 'This is a political problem and [it] must be solved by a political solution.'
Yim Sovann blamed the authorities for planting the demarcation poles without consulting local farmers, who object to losing land to Vietnam.
'So now [the farmers] are losing land because of these demarcation poles - the people do not agree with that because they have only a few hectares of land to feed their families, and now they are losing everything,' he said.
The two nations are currently demarcating their 1,270-kilometre long common border in a process that is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
Vietnam is a key investor in Cambodia with significant interests in agribusiness, aviation, telecoms and banking. In December the two nations signed an agreement that could result in investments worth billions of US dollars, including a deal to look for bauxite in Cambodia's border province of Mondulkiri.
Three opposition parliamentarians were stripped of their parliamentary immunity in 2009. Critics charge that the ruling Cambodian People's Party is using the courts to move against its perceived opponents in politics, the media and civil society.
8 comments:
Vietnam don't know when to stop.
Khmer can't wait to see the falls of vietnam.
May this evil nation viet reaps what it have planned.
Sam Rains has no future anymore now in Cambodia as he has now turned himself into Cambodian Public Enemy number 1. Sooner or later, you have to pay for your crime. Better get it done the easy way, Mr. SIAM Rainsy.
The CPP are such COWARDS. Sam Rainsy stands for goodness and courage and strength. The people are behind Sam Rainsy!
Mr. Sam Rainsy, thank you for being so intelligent, eloguent and sane in this craziness! You are the voice of reason in a manipulative society. Please stay safe and happy near year.
Thank you Mr Sam Rainsy,
Global attention and medias are the best offend against khmer public enemy youns.
the so-called arrest was probably due to sam rainsy disobeying or disrespecting the court order and has nothing to do with the symbolic gesture with uprooting the border markers, etc... people often mixed different issues together to make it look as if cambodian gov't is so bad because they are making arrest etc. people, you have to know the detail before buying a known flip-flop personality, really! in any country, wouldn't your own gov't warning an arrest if you disrespect the court summon or court order? same concept here, really! look at the situation as is, not what if or hysteria, really!
It doesn't make any sense. If Sam Rainsy do not subject himself to Cambodian law, do not obey the court system in Cambodia, how can he be a law maker and represent law abiding people?! If he plan not to be subject to Cambodian law or dismiss the court system, then he should not work in the royal government system all together. He should open a NGO organization. However, even if he open NGO in Cambodia, he still subject to Cambodian law. He is an educated man, he should know better.
No one expects justice from Cambodian Kangaroo court systems as they are controled by Hun Sen and his cronies. As such, if one has chance don't subject oneself to these stupid courts.
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