Mu Sochua versus the bestial prime minister

Mu Sochua’s valuable heroism in her quest for justice

29 July 2010
By Pech Bandol
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

With her high convictions, her courage and her sharp conscience, a woman-MP from the opposition SRP party was able to awaken Cambodians from all walk of life and throughout the world to stand up in unison to defend and raise the value of justice which has been trampled by Hun Xen, the current dictator of the Phnom Penh regime.

The movement to demand justice, which, by the way, even includes sex workers, has contributed their income and put it to the disposal of Mrs. Mu Sochua after she was sentenced to lose her case to Hun Xen by the dirty Cambodian tribunal, and she was unfairly ordered to pay 16.5 million riels in fine. However, the general Cambodian public clearly knows the situation of the Cambodia court, a court that is not an institution to protect justice at all. This court is merely a tool for those who hold power. Therefore, any decision delivered by this kangaroo court in the case of Mrs. Mu Sochua is meaningless for the current human society.

To the contrary, the value of the 10 million riels is a valuable donation by the generous donors and even sex workers women have contributed to this fund as well. This shows the solidarity force to defend justice for Mrs. Mu Sochua who is now turned into a giant hammer symbol pounding on the Phnom Penh regime so that the latter learns that the conscientious Cambodian people is aware of what is right and what is wrong, and the value of honesty. At the same time, it also shows that the way Hun Xen governs right now is likened to the animal kingdom and it does not fit the image of a leader of a civilized country in the world.

In general, people observe through animal programs shown on TV that large animals, i.e. powerful animals like tigers and lions, catch smaller preys to eat. The reason these large animals can behave this way is due to the lack of unity among the smaller and weaker preys. Nevertheless, such behavior only exists in the animal kingdom, but not in the human society.

Documents produced by fossil scientists indicate that humans have evolved from apes through a period of several million years. Furthermore, in the past several tens of thousands years, the human society had relied on the law to protect social justice and the sovereignty of each individual so as to avoid rights violations, i.e. humans are equal to each other in front of the law.

If that is the case, why is Hun Xen still governing as if he is living in an animal kingdom instead?

One can still remember that during a speech given in Chhouk district, Kampot province, in April 2009, Hun Xen claimed: “There was a “cheung khlang” (thug) woman who ran to hug another person, but she accused that person of unbuttoning her blouse…”

Regarding this rude insult, anybody can understand that Hun Xen was aiming at Mrs. Mu Sochua, the Kampot SRP MP.

The use of such language affects strongly the honor of Mrs. Mu Sochua who is a Khmer woman belonging to a race that has noble behavior and culture, therefore Hun Xen should be responsible for the use of his words in this case. However, it turned out to be a very coward case when the Cambodian prime minister turns around and applies additional pressure on Mrs. Mu Sochua, the victim, instead.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Mu Sochua is still standing up with courage, refusing to kneel down to what she perceives as injustice toward her. Her heroic bravery has turned into a conviction that shook all Cambodians from all walk of life to stand up to demand justice for Mrs. Mu Sochua whose rights have been savagely violated by this powerful prime minister. Unity among the Cambodians to demand justice is also a factor that distinguishes the Cambodian society from the animal society. Common sense led us to wonder whether we should continue to preserve such bestial leader or not?