The "Xmer" Naxional Axxembly to pull Sam Rainsy immunity: Flagrant XeePeePee (CPP) subservience to Hanoi?

National Assembly To Pull Sam Rainsy Immunity

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
12 November 2009

A National Assembly committee on Thursday moved to revoke the parliamentary immunity of opposition leader Sam Raisny, who is facing charges in Svay Rieng provincial court of destruction of property and incitement of racial discrimination.

The Permanent Committee of the Assembly approved a Ministry of Justice request that his immunity be removed for investigation to proceed, said Cheam Yiep, a senior lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

The full Assembly, heavily dominated by the CPP, will vote to revoke Sam Rainsy’s immunity on Monday, Cheam Yiep said.

Sam Rainsy is the third opposition member to lose National Assembly immunity this year, in what critics have called an attack on government dissent through the courts.

Svay Rieng authorities allege that Sam Rainsy provoked villagers into uprooting six temporary poles at border marker No. 185, in Chantrea district, where they had said they worried about Vietnamese encroachment from neighboring Long An province.

In 2005, Sam Rainsy and two other opposition lawmakers had their immunity suspended, when they accused Prime Minister Hun Sen and former National Assembly head Prince Norodom Ranariddh of building up their respective security forces.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the National Assembly was taking a full session to vote on the immunity question at a time when Cambodia “suffers from threats on the eastern and western borders.”

“The ruling party should think of the national interest as the biggest one, but not regard the suspension of Sam Rainsy’s immunity as a priority,” he said.

Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said the move to strike Sam Rainsy’s immunity was an act that would frighten other parliamentarians, who “do not dare to speak out or express their opinion.”

Immunity for SRP head

Monday, 09 March 2009
Written by NETH PHEAKTRA The Phnom Penh Post

OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy will have his parliamentary immunity restored when the National Assembly's Permanent Committee meets for an extraordinary session Thursday, officials said Sunday.

Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the committee would hold a preliminary meeting Tuesday to prepare the agenda for an extraordinary session, at which the SRP president's immunity was expected to be addressed.

"Sam Rainsy's immunity is one of seven agenda items for the Permanent Committee meeting," he said.

"I expect that the Assembly will vote to restore Sam Rainsy's immunity on March 12."

Sam Rainsy has been without his constitutional immunity since February 26, when the committee voted to suspend it to force him to pay a 10 million riel (US $2,500) fine to the National Election Committee, imposed for comments made during last year's national election campaign.

SRP lawmaker and spokesman Yim Sovann said that during recent International Women's Day celebrations, National Assembly President Heng Samrin confirmed the leader's immunity would be restored in the next few days.

"What I have heard so far is that the Ministry of Justice prepared a letter to be sent to the Permanent Committee [asking them] to restore his immunity," he said.

Cheam Yeap’s angry reaction to IPU letter regarding Sam Rainsy’s immunity lifting case

05 March 2009
By San Suwith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

CPP MP Cheam Yeap reacted to a letter sent by Ander Johnson, IPU Secretary-general, demanding that the Cambodian National Assembly (NatAss) returns back Sam Rainsy’s immunity, by saying that this issue is not that important.

Nevertheless, he indicated that the path to this issue must follow the same road it started with.

Cheam Yeap said: “If Mr. Sam Rainsy paid beforehand, there wouldn’t be any problem, but he … he is overstepping the bounds (? or rude?), he created havoc so that he can go report and defame others by all means. This, I want to tell you in my name as a Cambodian son only, Mr. Sam Rainsy always do this many times already, when he is scared … when his immunity was lifted, he is scared, he goes on to report it at the IPU, he complained to the king in every way. So now, however the case came in, it should go out the same way, that is, right now, the (NatAss) permanent committee has decided to suspend his immunity so that the court can question him, as he already paid (his fine), he must send a letter to ask Samdach (Heng Samrin) to return back his immunity, that’s the end of it.”

Sam Rainsy, who is currently in France, indicated on 26 Feb that the NatAss permanent committee lifted his immunity, he already sent a letter to ask that his immunity be returned back to him, but no positive reply was provided back to him immediately.

Sam Rainsy said: “He shouldn’t say that, I wanted to exhaust all the legal means available, for a penal case, only the Supreme Court can have the final say. I am very puzzled, all the legal recourses have not been exhausted yet, but the NatAss hastily decided to lift my immunity, this is regarding the legal issue. When the National Election Committee wrote a letter to the court saying that it already received my fine payment, then the NatAss should end this case immediately, but they are in no hurry, they want to drag it on for weeks and months, as long as they want. I say that this action is not proper at all.”

On Monday of this week, a high-ranking official of the Cambodian ministry of Justice indicated that, up to then, he did not receive any request from the court to return back Sam Rainsy’s immunity yet.

It should be noted also that the Cambodian NatAss, in its desire to maintain a good relationship with the IPU that includes more than 200 parliaments membership worldwide, has decided to host a large IPU meeting in Phnom Penh next week.

Without Immunity, Sam Rainsy Flies To Europe

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 March 2009

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left the country Tuesday, to visit family and report on the suspension of his National Assembly immunity to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Switzerland.

Sam Rainsy has been without immunity since a Feb. 26 vote to revoke it by the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee, after he failed to pay campaigning fines to the National Election Committee.

He has since paid the $2,500 in fines, which were levied for allegedly disparaging remarks made about the leaders of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party during election campaigning last year. However, his immunity remains in suspension.

Sam Rainsy said on Tuesday he would discuss the incident with European representatives of the IPU, an international body of parliamentarians.

“It was not my plan to visit Switzerland, but I reported already to the IPU, so I will spend my time to visit IPU to report about my parliamentary immunity,” he said. “I just told IPU to know that in Cambodia and the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council, the law is not respected. [The CPP members] use the Permanent Committee to threaten members of the National Assembly.”

CPP officials in the National Assembly, which is in recess, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but National Assembly President Heng Samrin has said the body will reconsider Sam Rainsy’s immunity question when it reconvenes in April.

SRP Deputy Secretary-General Mu Sochua said the Permanent Committee’s withdrawal of the immunity purposely came before a long recess and was a “political” decision.