Kangaroo Court in Cambodia Ignores The “Non Bis In Idem” Principle

September 22, 2011

KANGAROO COURT IN CAMBODIA IGNORES THE “NON BIS IN IDEM” PRINCIPLE

Today the Kangaroo court in Phnom Penh is holding a “rehearing” of my case related to a defamation complaint filed by current Foreign Minister and former Khmer Rouge prison chief Hor Nam Hong.

The case was first heard last April without my or my lawyer’s participation, and I was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison.

On May 5, 2011 my Khmer lawyer wrote to the President of the Court to oppose the above verdict on the basis of the universal judicial principle “Non bis in idem” (no one shall be twice tried for the same offence).

As a matter of fact, in relation to another defamation lawsuit filed against me in France by the same Hor Nam Hong, which is very similar in substance to the one he filed in Cambodia, the French Supreme Court ("Cour de Cassation") on April 27, 2011 declared I was not guilty of anything and Hor Nam Hong finally and definitively lost his case before the French tribunal.

Therefore, today’s “rehearing” is a violation of the “Non bis in idem” principle, especially in light of the difference in the degree of independence and respectability enjoyed respectively by the French (real) Court and the Cambodian (Kangaroo) Court.

Sam Rainsy

Elected Member of Parliament

New York City, USA

Double jeopardy in Phnom Penh: Opposition leader Sam Rainsy summoned to Hor 5 Hong's lawsuit on 22 Sept 2011

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The French Supreme Court

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Hor Namhong versus Sam Rainsy: Hearing at The French Court on December 9, 2008

Source: SRP

December 11, 2008

HOR NAMHONG VERSUS SAM RAINSY :
HEARING AT THE FRENCH COURT ON DECEMBER 9, 2008

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong has filed a defamation lawsuit against Sam Rainsy before the French Court following the publication this year in France of a book by the opposition leader titled "Des racines dans la pierre" (Rooted in Stone).

The hearing which took place at Le Palais de Justice in Paris started at 4:50 pm and ended at 8:30 pm.

Hor Namhong was there with five lawyers. They brought Raoul Jennar, a Belgian "expert on Cambodia", as a witness. Sam Rainsy was there too but with only one lawyer and no witness.

Hor Namhong's arguments

1- Former King Norodom Sihanouk was condemned by the French Court on January 23, 1991 after being quoted as saying in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche dated July 23, 1989:

"L'équipe de Monsieur Hun Sen est composée d'anciens Khmers rouges archi-criminels. Par exemple, Hor Nam Hong, ex-commandant d'un camp de concentration Khmer rouge, est responsable de la mort après d'atroces tortures de beaucoup d'anciens membres de la résistance anti-américaine, tels mon cousin le prince Sisowath Méthavi et son épouse, sœur aînée de ma femme… "

"Mr. Hun Sen's team is made up of former arch-criminal Khmer Rouge officials. For instance, Hor Nam Hong, ex-commander of a Khmer Rouge concentration camp, is responsible for the death, after atrocious tortures, of many former members of the anti-American resistance, such as my cousin Prince Sisowath Methavy and his spouse, who was my wife's elder sister…"

According to Hor Namhong, Sam Rainsy in his book made against him the same allegations as the ones Norodom Sihanouk made nearly twenty years ago; Sam Rainsy should then be condemned in the same way as the former King was condemned by the same Court.

2- Hor Namhong lost many relatives under the Khmer Rouge regime. Therefore, he could not have cooperated in any way with the Khmer Rouge.

Sam Rainsy's arguments

1- In his book Sam Rainsy actually wrote:

"Hun Sen n'était pas seul dans son cas: la plupart des supplétifs du régime vietnamien avaient frayé avec les Khmers rouges. Quand Ranariddh et Hun Sen eurent définitivement scellé mon compte, ils ne trouvèrent pas mieux que de nommer à la tête de mon ministère Keat Chhon, celui qui, pendant tant d'années, fut le principal conseiller de Pol Pot. Et quelques années plus tard, le Ministre des Affaires Etrangères serait un ancien collaborateur du pouvoir khmer rouge soupçonné d'avoir causé la mort de nombreuses personnes dont des membres de la famille royale".

"Hun Sen was not alone in his case: most of the Vietnamese regime's auxiliary staff had cooperated in one way or another with the Khmer Rouge. When Ranariddh and Hun Sen had definitively decided on my fate, they did not find anything better than appointing at the head of my ministry Keat Chhon, the man who, for so many years had been the main adviser to Pol Pot. And several years later, the Foreign Affairs Minister could be a former collaborator of the Khmer Rouge regime suspected of having caused the death of many people including members of the royal family."

Sam Rainsy points to the fact that what he wrote is not exactly the same, in the content and in the form, as what former King Norodom Sihanouk had reportedly said.

2- There have been new developments and new evidence against Hor Namhong since 1991 when the former King lost the first lawsuit filed by Hor Namhong before the French Court. Sam Rainsy refers to The Cambodia Daily report "Clouded History" published on July 1-2, 2000, the interview of Senator Keo Bunthouk (Mrs. Ieng Kounsaky) titled "A camp called Boeng Trabek" published in The Phnom Penh Post dated January 19 - February 1, 2001 and the book by Ong Thong Hoeung "J'ai cru aux Khmers Rouges" (I believed in the Khmer Rouge) published in Europe in 2003. Related documents at http://tinyurl.com/56czqh

Hor Namhong said that he had filed a defamation lawsuit in Phnom Penh against The Cambodia Daily for the above-mentioned report and that he won the case. Out of the two authors of the report, only the Cambodian reporter [Thet Sambath] was condemned by the Cambodian Court because the other one, who is an American national [Kelly McEvers], "ran away." He said that all the defamation cases initiated by him in Cambodia have been closed because all the concerned journalists [including Dam Sith, the editor of Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) who was jailed for one week this summer], have apologized to him.

Raoul Jennar said that he has been hired by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh (ECCC) as an "independent expert." To defend Hor Namhong he said that the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge was "centralized" in such a way that "only six persons in the Khmer Rouge top leadership could make the decision to kill any person." He also said that the Cambodian government is in no way responsible for any delay in the judicial proceedings at the ECCC.

The French Court will decide on the case on January 27, 2009.

Hor Namhong’s law suit against Sam Rainsy in a Cambodian court has been temporarily shelved awaiting the verdict of the French court

Mr. Hor Namhong (L) and Mr. Sam Rainsy (R).

Reaksmei Kampuchea newspaper
18th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The seven month-old defamation and disinformation law suit, derived from an article published by the opposition newspaper the Khmer Conscience and which was lodged by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong against Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy, has been temporarily shelved by a prosecutor attached to the court, awaiting for the verdict of the French court first which will be decided on the 9th of December, 2008.

Please note that on the 22nd of April, 2008, Mr. Ka Savuth, lawyer representing Mr. Hor Namhong, lodged a defamation and disinformation law suit with the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Magistrate Court due attached with the article published in the Khmer Conscience on 18th of April, 2008.

Mr. Ek Chheng Huort, deputy prosecutor attached to the court, has followed the judicial procedures regarding the case. But Mr. Sam Rainsy has always asked for a delay whenever the court summons him to appear. So, due to Mr. Sam Rainsy has parliamentary immunity, the court cannot proceed with this case.

In the meantime, the court has separated the suit against editor of the Khmer Conscience newspaper, Mr. Dam Sith (from Mr. Sam Rainsy‘s case), and Mr. Dam Sith’s case was sent to the investigating judge to proceed with the court case.

In June, 2008, Mr. Dam Sith was ordered by the court to be detained in Preysor Prison, awaiting for the results of the investigations. Shortly after, the court has decided to set Mr. Dam Sith free.

Afterward, the court, through the Ministry of Justice, has written a letter to President of the National Assembly requesting the suspension of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity in order to make ways for the court to proceed with the suit. But up until now, even after the third parliamentary term has ended, there is no sign of the National Assembly debating this (the suspension of Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity) issue.

Afterward, in order to provide full justice to Mr. Sam Rainsy, Mr. Hor Namhong has decided to lodge another law suit in the French court because Mr. Sam Rainsy is a French citizen.

According to a reliable source, this new suit will be heard in the French court on the 9th of December, 2008. So, Mr. Hor Namhong’s suit in the Cambodia court has to be temporarily shelved, awaiting for the verdict of the French court first before it can proceed.