Cambodia passes bill criminalizing genocide denial
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia's
National Assembly has approved a bill making it a crime to deny that
atrocities were committed by the genocidal 1970s communist Khmer Rouge
regime. Critics say the law will be used as a weapon against the
political opposition.
The assembly passed the bill unanimously in
the absence of opposition lawmakers, who were expelled from the
legislature this week. A committee controlled by the ruling Cambodian
People's Party said the lawmakers must relinquish their seats under the
law because they had joined a new party to contest this July's general
election.
Prime Minister Hun Sen called for the law after a
leading opposition lawmaker reportedly suggested that some of the
evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities was fabricated by Vietnam, whose army
invaded to oust the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
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