Monday, April 25, 2011

The travesty of justice continues on in Nom Benh: Another 2 years of jail sentence on Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy

Cambodian court sentences opposition leader to 2 years in jail

April 25, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday sentenced the exiled opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, in absentia to 2 years in jail and fined 2,000 U.S. dollars for public defamation and inciting discrimination, according to the verdict.

The charges were brought under the new criminal code and stem from comments that Sam Rainsy, president of the Sam Rainsy Party, made the speech on April 17, 2008, saying that the current Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, minister of foreign affairs, was formerly the chief of Boeung Trabek prison in the Khmer Rouge regime.

"Sam Rainsy's claims are groundless and incite discrimination against government officials," said the verdict read by the presiding judge Seng Neang on Monday.

"The verdict is just and brings cleanness to my client," Ka Savuth, the lawyer for Hor Namhong, told reporters after the verdict announcement.


Hor Namhong won a similar suit in France in 2008 that levied a symbolic fine of 1 euro on Sam Rainsy for comments in his autobiography "Rooted In The Stone."

Sam Rainsy, 60, who is currently living in exile in France, has already been sentenced in absentia up to 12 years in prison for vandalism after he uprooted border marks with Vietnam on October 29, 2009 and for forging public documents and disseminating false information relating to a map of the border between Cambodia and Vietnam.

He was stripped of his parliamentary seat last month as a result of the convictions.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poeple's power starts now before it's too late, khmer. We will organise public demontrations and riots untill Hun Sen and criminal gang/CPP is ousted from power and from cambodia.

Let's us start now, people.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Srok Khmer never be independent again if we have more people like a lop ach ksea 12:27PM above. It (I call it because looks like animal) never who's working to help country or who's sellig the country.

Anonymous said...

មកពីគាត់​ សម រង្សិ មិនមែនជាអ្នកនយោបាយ​។គាត់​គ្រាន់ជាអ្នកលេងនយោបាយ។...p

Anonymous said...

http://timothychhim.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-jail-term-for-cambodian-opposition.html

Anonymous said...

khmer people don't really like scam rainsy because he is no more than a trouble-maker and a sore loser, really! of course, there are more to cambodia than just scam rainsy's narcissistic attitude, you know!

Anonymous said...

No I dont know
only you know