Supreme Court Ruling a Rubber Stamp of Appeal Court

PHNOM PENH – 02 June, 2010

We, Members of Parliament of the Sam Rainsy Party strongly denounce the ruling of the Supreme Court today, which unsurprisingly upheld the defamation conviction of MP Mu Sochua. The Court’s affirmance, despite the sheer lack of evidence against Mu Sochua, shows the court did not base its decision on an independent and impartial application of the facts to the elements of the law, but instead bowed to political manipulation by the executive.

This conviction demonstrates that constitutional protections and rights such as freedom of expression, fair trial by an independent tribunal, and equality before the law are meaningless when they are used to challenge the powerful.

Not only was there no legal basis for a defamation conviction of Mu Sochua, but this trial has revealed additional causes for great concern about the way the judiciary is run. In this political climate, where threatening speeches against government’s critics are regularly made by high-level officials, it is clear that the lawyer of Mu Sochua’s own choosing was intimidated and that no other lawyers would have dared to represent her. This violated her right to a fair and independent trial.

Further, in a free society, the people must be allowed to hold their leaders accountable, even if that means criticism. The government’s argument that public officials should be respected and not denounced is directly contradicted by the Constitution: Article 39 of the Constitution guarantees the right of Khmer citizens to denounce public officials for a breach of the law committed during the course of their duties. The comments made by the Prime Minister were derogatory and set a bad example for how women should be treated in Cambodia; such language is unacceptable, and perpetuates a culture of misogyny and discrimination against women. If Cambodia is to progress, it must allow space for the people to speak out when they see injustice.

Ironically, as international donors meet this week to discuss giving additional aid to Cambodia, the ineffectiveness of past aid to reform the judiciary and increase democratic space for free expression was made glaringly obvious with today’s ruling. Donors must condemn the lack of reforms of the judiciary in Cambodia and the direct manipulation of the justice system by the executive branch, and place more strict demands on the government to allow judges and lawyers to exercise their roles and functions according to the rule of law. The government must be held accountable to deliver clear results in the reforms of the judiciary and its commitment to democratic principles.

We acknowledge and highly value the presence of all local and international human rights organizations, trade union leaders, teachers, youth and women during the hearing today, and we call on civil society and the international community to continue their vigilance of the current surge of defamation cases against dissenting voices, and partisan political pressure on the judiciary.

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