Cambodian wife, son stumble on husband's wedding

Mon, 17 Dec 2007

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian wedding was thrown into chaos when the groom's wife and 17-month-old son stumbled across him and a new spouse greeting guests outside their reception party, local media and restaurant staff said Monday. Local daily Rasmei Kampuchea reported Soung Soh Leap, 30, and her son believed Lam Davuth, 38, was away on business and were going to market when they happened by a restaurant and saw him with a new bride welcoming guests.

A receptionist at Sorya Restaurant confirmed the story.

"The first wife screamed a lot ... but after he talked quietly to the other bride, the new one seemed okay," the receptionist, who declined to be named, said by telephone.

Police said they declined Soh Leap's requests to intervene as it was a domestic matter and the wedding eventually went on.

Adultery and bigamy are criminal offenses punishable by jail in Cambodia, but Soh Leap would need to make a formal complaint to the court before action could be taken, police said.

Cambodian Political Party Condemn's Prince's Adultery Charge

March 19th 2007
DPA

The political party led by Cambodian prince Norodom Ranariddh Monday condemned the decision to charge him with adultery as a calculated political act a week ahead of important nationwide commune elections.

Spokesman for the prince's new Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), Muth Chantha, said the decision by Phnom Penh Municipal Court to charge him under the new law Sunday was unfair, illegal and an attempt to further hobble his party in the April 1 elections.

"This charge is at the wrong time. This is during campaign time for the commune elections," Chantha said by telephone. "There is a real political motive here."

"Is this rule just for the prince or for everyone?"

Court officials said the charge followed a complaint by the prince's estranged wife and senior government minister, Princess Norodom Marie. No date for a hearing has yet been set.

Ranariddh has been openly living with classical dancer Ouk Phalla in Europe for a number of years and the pair have a 3-year-old son. Analysts speculated at the time the law to criminalize adultery was passed late last year that it was aimed specifically at Ranariddh, which the government denied.

The government has also denied any political motives and says it does not control when the court charges anyone or with what.

Chantha claimed that the charge against Ranariddh was illegal as it was retrospective of the law and also challenged the legality of Princess Marie's marriage to Ranariddh.

"They were married before 1970. They never renewed the paperwork after (the fall of the Khmer Rouge in) 1979 so according to the law there is no current union," he said.

The adultery charge carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. Ranariddh is the first person to be charged with the offence since it was passed.

The charge follows Ranariddh's sentencing to 18 months in jail in absentia last week on embezzlement charges over the 3.6 million dollar sale of his former Funcinpec Party's headquarters.

Ranariddh's fall from grace has been swift since he resigned as National Assembly chief last year. He was then ousted by his own royalist Funcinpec party in October, and since starting the NRP party has been assailed with law suits.

Currently in France, Ranariddh himself has also denounced the legal charges in local media as an attempt to discredit him politically.

The commune elections are expected to be won handsomely by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which currently maintains a coalition government with Funcinpec.

Cambodian prince on adultery charge

Prince Ranariddh could face prison for adultery

19/03/2007
By Sebastien Berger,
South East Asia Correspondent
The Telegraph (UK)

Cambodia's most prominent opposition politician has been charged with criminal adultery, prosecutors said, in the latest blow to anyone daring to challenge prime minister Hun Sen.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, a son of the former king Norodom Sihanouk, and the former leader of the royalist Funcinpec party, faces a year in prison if convicted.

He has publicly acknowledged his relationship with a classical dancer, with whom he has a three-year-old son.

"I charged Prince Norodom Ranariddh with adultery, and I think it is fair because the accused had a relationship with a new partner," said Sok Kalyan, deputy prosecutor at Phnom Penh municipal court.

His move followed a complaint filed by the prince's wife, Princess Marie, and was made public as campaigning began for local elections. Adultery was criminalised in Cambodia last year.

Cambodian prince charged with adultery

Prince Norodom Ranariddh during a press conference in Phnom Penh, November 2006. A Cambodian court has charged ousted royalist leader with adultery over his affair with a classical dancer, according to a court official.(AFP/File/Chhin Sothy)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - A Cambodian court has charged ousted royalist leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh with adultery over his affair with a classical dancer, a court official said Sunday.

Ranariddh -- who is currently in Europe and was on Tuesday sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail for fraud over a land deal -- could face up to one year in prison if found guilty under Cambodia's new monogamy laws.

The charge follows a complaint filed in December by his estranged wife, Princess Norodom Marie Ranariddh.

Sok Kalyan, deputy prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said the charge was issued in January, but was only made public on Friday, the first day of campaigning for upcoming local administrative elections.

"It is true that I charged Prince Norodom Ranariddh with adultery, and I think it is fair because the accused had a relationship with a new partner," said Sok Kalyan.

He said the court would invite both Princess Marie and Ranariddh to court once the investigation was complete. No date for the hearing has yet been set.

The prince, 63, has publicly acknowledged his relationship with a classical dancer, with whom he has a three-year-old son.

Cambodia in September passed a monogamy law which punishes unfaithful spouses and bans polygamy and incest. Perpetrators face between a month and a year in prison, plus a fine of up to 205 dollars.

Ranariddh's defence lawyer Liv Sovanna labelled the charge "a great injustice", but admitted that he had little hope that they could win the case, accusing the courts of bias.

Ranariddh, who was sacked as leader of the Funcinpec party in October, was on Tuesday sentenced to 18 months in jail and ordered to pay 150,000 dollars to Funcinpec over the illegal sale of his former political party's headquarters.

The charges against the prince are at the heart of a battle with his former political allies for royalist support ahead of local elections next month and national polls in 2008, which are likely to see royalist influence in the government plummet.

Ouk Socheat, the prince's information adviser, said Ranariddh was currently in Belgium.

He did not say when Ranariddh would return to Cambodia, but told AFP that members of the prince's newly-established Norodom Ranariddh Party would issue a petition requesting a royal pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni.

Court starts adultery case against Cambodian Prince Ranariddh

March 18, 2007

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has accused Prince Norodom Ranariddh of adultery, on the basis of a lawsuit filed by his wife Princess Maria in February, local media reported on Saturday.

"The court (on Friday) officially accused Prince Ranariddh of adultery with famous royal ballet dancer Ouk Phalla, who has one son with him," the Raksmey Kampuchea Daily newspaper said.

Muth Chanthan, spokesman for the prince's Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) told reporters on Saturday that the court is of injustice and if it dares to accuse Ranariddh only through the monogamy law, they must also accuse some top government officials who have many mistresses.

"The court exercises the monogamy law only with prince and wants to terminate his political life," he said.

However, he said, "if we come across the legal procedures, the court can't accuse the prince, because he hasn't lived with Princess Marie for more than a year. The relationship between them should have ended automatically, although they have two sons and one daughter."

In addition, Liv Sovanna, co-lawyer for the prince, said that the case should be solved by royal law, because it is the internal affairs of the royal family members of Cambodia.

"I hope the royal family to solve it through their own law," he said.

The prince and the princess don't have marriage certificate, because in 2001 when the government issued a sub-decree to encourage Cambodian couples to fill in marriage certificates, they didn't do so, he said.

Meanwhile, Ouk Savuth, president of prosecutors of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, told Xinhua that he refused to comment on it because reporters used to exaggerate his words.

Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and Information Minister, said that the government and Prime Minister Hun Sen himself can't put hands in the court.

"If they want to complain about the court, they should file their complaint to the Supreme Council of Magistracy, which is presided over by King," he added.

According to the monogamy law, if the court finds prince guilty of adultery, he will be put in jail from one month to one year.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced Prince Ranriddh to 18 months in jail with 150,000 U.S. dollars of compensation for the Funcinpec Party. He was found guilty of breach of trust while he headed the party before October 2006.

The verdict would prevent Ranariddh from running for public office in Cambodia unless he serves at least two-thirds of his jail term or receives a pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni, his half brother.

Ranariddh started to preside Funcinpec in 1992 and was ousted as president in October 2006, for neglecting party affairs and being unable to cooperate with Hun Sen. He then turned to establish NRP, whose members are currently campaigning in the commune councils election.

Source: Xinhua