Incident in Rome with the Cambodian delegation to the Assembly of Parliament​arians for the Internatio​nal Criminal Court

.

INCIDENT RELATED TO CAMBODIA AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ROME

Because they could not ensure the exclusion of opposition leader Sam Rainsy from the meeting, the official Cambodian delegation led by parliamentarian Chheang Vun walked out from the Italian Parliament building and boycotted the 7th Assembly of Parliamentarians for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the other hosts did not try to retain the official Cambodian delegation from leaving. Cambodian opposition parliamentarians Sam Rainsy and Tioulong Saumura instead continued to attend the meeting and will do so until the end of the Conference.

CNRP Secretariat

---------

Statement by Italian Senator Marco Perdura and MP Matteo Mecacci

CPI: Perduca (Radicali) inacettabile comportamento autoritario e anti-democratico della delegazione cambogiana contro opposizione democratica.

Dichiarazione del Senatore Marco Perduca e del Deputato Matteo Mecacci co-vicepresidenti del Senato del Partito Radicale:

"Poco prima dell'apertura della VII assemblea consultiva di Parliamentarians for Global Action, PGA, la delegazione cambogiana si e' opposta a che i loro colleghi parlamentari Sam Rainsy e Tioulong Saumura, da tempo costretti a vivere in esilio in Francia, entrassero dell'auletta dei gruppi della Camera dove si svolge la riunione dimostrando la qualita' democratica di quel paese governato da Hun Sen con pugno para-militare degno del peggior autoritarismo.

Oltre a esser tra i pochi e coraggiosi rappresentanti dell'opposizione democratica in Cambogia, Sam Rainsy e Saumura Touilong, da oltre una decina d'anni son anche iscritti al Partito Radicale Nonviolento Transnazionale e Transpartito dove son membri del consiglio generale. I nostri compagni cambogiani erano stati invitati da PGA in rappresentanza della Conferenza asiatica dei liberal-democratici e bene hanno fatto l Presidente Fini e Emma Bonino a spiegare chiaramente che la loro richiesta era totalmente inaccettabile. Resteremo a seduti accanto a loro pel resto della conferenza a dimostrazione della vicinanza della loro alla nostra lotta anti-regime.

Auspichiamo che la stampa italiana possa trovare il tempo di intervistrarli, attraverso il Partito Radicale per raccogliere una versione della situazione cambogiana meno edulcorata di quella che solitamente viene offerta al mondo.

Unofficial translation from Italian by KI-Media:

CPI: Perduca (Radicals Party) finds unacceptable the behavior of the authoritarian and anti-democratic Cambodian delegation against the democratic opposition.

Statement of Senator Marco Perduca and MP Matthew Mecacci co-vice-presidents of the Senate of the Radical Party:

"Shortly before the opening of the 7th consultative assembly of Parliamentarians for Global Action, PGA, the Cambodian delegation 'objected against their parliamentary colleagues, Sam Rainsy and Tioulong Saumura who are forced to live in long exile in France, when the pair entered the aisle(?) of the Parliament House where the meeting is held. The behavior of the Cambodia delegation demonstrated the quality 'of democracy in an autocratic country ruled by Hun Sen – one of the worst authoritarian regime.’

In addition to being one of the few and brave representatives of the democratic opposition in Cambodia, Sam Rainsy and Saumura Tioulong have also enrolled for more than ten years in the Nonviolent Radical Party trans-national and trans-party where they are members of the General Council. Our two fellow Cambodians were invited by PGA on behalf of the Asian Conference of the Liberal Democrats and they have done well, President Fini and Emma Bonino have to explain clearly that their request was totally unacceptable. We'll be sitting next to them for the rest of the conference as a demonstration of our sympathy for their struggle against the [Phnom Penh] regime.

We hope that the Italian press can find the time to interview them through the Radical Party to collect information of the true situation in Cambodia, unlike the watered down version that is usually offered to the world [by the Phnom Penh regime].