Suits Red-Flagged Court’s Relation to Politics

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
04 August 2009

“For some reason, Hun Sen, as powerful as he is, continues to look at people as a threat, and he seems to think that people like Mu Sochua and some journalists, somehow, threaten his hold on to power, and he over reacts. He is not showing political maturity” - Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch

In early April, when Prime Minister Hun Sen made an offhand comment about an unnamed woman in Kampot province taking off her shirt and rushing to hug a man during the 2008 general campaign, few people took notice. Several of his entourage snickered behind him and his speech went on as usual.

In fact, the prime minister’s remarks sounded to Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua like a reference to an alleged assault she’d complained of in Kampot province, when she was a 2008 candidate for parliament.

At the time she alleged she’d had her blouse torn open after she accosted an official for campaigning for the ruling party in a vehicle with military plates; she further said she had been struck by a vehicle.

To Mu Sochua, Hun Sen’s remarks—for her, a clear reference to her campaign assault—which also mentioned a “strong-leg,” were derogatory. So later that month, she sued.

The suit and Mu Sochua’s request that the prime minister apologize gained the speech national attention. When Hun Sen countersued, the world took notice.

On Tuesday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court fined Mu Sochua 8.5 million riel, or $2,500, and demanded she pay Hun Sen 8 million riel, or $2,000, in damages. (Mu Sochua said she would appeal. Her demand for 500 riel in reparation had already been dropped by the court on the grounds the complaint lacked evidence.)

Along the way, human rights monitors closely followed the suit, expressing concerns that the principle of respect for women was being forgotten, as questions of politics in the courts persisted.

“Firstly, I am so sorry to hear that there is such a litigation, and secondly, I hope that in the future there will be real democracy in Cambodia,” Kek Galabru, president of the rights groups Licadho, told VOA Khmer by phone this week.

Mu Sochua, a Cambodian-American, said before the verdict Tuesday she was the victim of an insult devaluing Cambodian women and all women, but she said she still had respect for the prime minister.

“I respect Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to say that I had the intention to defame Hun Sen is totally wrong,” she told VOA Khmer by phone. “This shows that there is an intention to turn a victim into a perpetrator.”

In a recent public hearing, Hun Sen’s lawyer, Ky Tech, said the damages would be donated to an orphanage.

“My demand is to pay for various compensation and losses,” Ky Tech told VOA Khmer by phone. “The number is not restricted in the law. It depends on how big the damage is to our mind and heart.”

Meanwhile, political observers say the suit-countersuit was just the tip of an iceberg. There are many cases in which the governemnt is using the courts to silence critics, whether they are lawmakers or journalists.

“For some reason, Hun Sen, as powerful as he is, continues to look at people as a threat, and he seems to think that people like Mu Sochua and some journalists, somehow, threaten his hold on to power, and he over reacts,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “He is not showing political maturity.”

The government has denied the use of legal action to oppress dissenting voices.

“Filing a complaint to the court does not mean targeting the opposition or a demand for compensation,” said Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers. “And using the court to provide justice is fair. When Mu Sochua filed against Hun Sen, why don’t we say she is trying to silence Hun Sen?”

Could Hun Xen win an unbiased court?

Mu Sochua, Cambodia opposition figure. [Robert Carmichael]

Hun Sen opponent loses defamation case

Tuesday, August 04, 2009
By Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has won a defamation case against a former women's affairs minister.

Some observers say the case, one of a number brought against government critics, is part of a concerted crackdown.

A court in Phnom Penh fined the prominent opposition MP $US4,000 after ruling she had defamed Hun Sen.

Mu Sochua was sued after she brought a defamation case against him earlier in the year.

Her case was thrown out of court several months ago.

About half of the fine must be paid to Hun Sen and the rest goes to the state.

Cambodia's courts are subject to political interference, so observers had expected a guilty verdict.

The ruling follows the hearing 12 days ago when Mu Sochua told the court she would not testify in her defence since she could not find a lawyer to represent her.

Her previous lawyer was forced to quit after coming under intense political pressure.

SRP ponders next step in PM suit

Mu Sochua (foreground) and Sam Rainsy before Mu Sochua’s Municipal Court trial on Friday. (Photo by: AFP)

Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Meas Sokchea and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

With the verdict in SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua's defamation case expected next week, the party appears divided over whether to engage the government in another round of legal tangles.

AS PHNOM Penh Municipal Court prepares to deliver the verdict in Prime Minister Hun Sen's defamation case against Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Mu Sochua, the opposition faces the dilemma of whether to keep up the fight in the event of a guilty verdict or concede defeat by paying any fines levied by the court.

While some SRP officials seem to regard the verdict, expected August 4, as a natural endpoint to Mu Sochua's legal tangle with Hun Sen, some observers say the party should maintain its opposition regardless of the outcome.

Human Rights Party (HRP) President Kem Sokha said Monday that opposition parties should continue to take strong stands even as they are pressured more and more during government crackdowns.

"We should not let ourselves get soft-hearted," he said.

"What we must do is stand on principle against corruption and human rights violations. For the rights violations against Mu Sochua, we should not cease. We must go on."

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann told the Post last Thursday that the party would settle the case by paying any fines levied against Mu Sochua, adding that, as the saying goes, prudence might be the better part of valour.

Mu Sochua had previously said she would rather go to jail than pay a fine, saying her incarceration would draw attention to oppression directed at many Cambodians.

"Mu Sochua's stance is different from the party," Yim Sovann said. "The SRP sees that the court is not independent or fair. Even if we continue our case to the top, it will lose."

In a recent interview in the online Asia Media Forum, SRP lawmaker Son Chhay said the party had no alternative but to "quiet down for a while" as the government crackdown continues.

Mu Sochua said Tuesday her stance on the issue remained the same, though she declined to elaborate.

"My stance has not changed," she said, adding, "The pursuit of justice is based on principles. Those principles cannot be negotiated."

She declined to comment on the payment of fines in advance of the verdict.

Political theatre

The SRP's candlelight vigil outside the Municipal Court before Mu Sochua's hearing Friday, an event attended by press and international observers, could be seen as an example of how Hun Sen's lawsuit might ultimately benefit the opposition. But it is unclear exactly how far the issue can be pushed before it will become a political - or personal - liability.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the party's stance should reflect what it is hoping to gain from the affair.

"If your intention is to fight the system and push for change as an advocate, you have to continue, you have to stick to a principle and not waver," he said.

"Unfortunately, there are some hardships associated with being courageous.... It will incur some painful sacrifices."

The SRP's apparent decision to wind down its fight echoes its reaction to a similar crackdown in 2005, when Sam Rainsy and lawmakers Cheam Channy and Chea Poch all faced lawsuits filed by government officials.

Cheam Channy, who was sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of attempting to form a private army, said Monday that the experience of his own case made him realise that fighting court battles was not worth the effort.

"I understand clearly that the Cambodian courts are under political pressure," he said.

He added that the current priority of the party was to help those in need rather than waging an unwinnable fight against senior officials.

Cheam Channy was released from prison in 2006 after securing a pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni.

Though many of Mu Sochua's supporters have argued that the court would likely deliver a guilty verdict because of political pressure, Hun Sen's lawyer Ky Tech dismissed the opposition's concerns about judicial independence, saying the court was operating in a transparent manner.

"Whether my case loses or wins, it will be just, since the court has conducted the case properly," he said.

Cambodian Defenders Project Executive Director Sok Sam Oeun, who noted that Mu Sochua did not speak very much during Friday's hearing, said the SRP decision on whether to continue its legal struggle should ultimately depend on the evidence it possesses.

"[Municipal Court] was the place for her to fight the strongest, but she did not speak very much," he said.

Cambodian cases intensify concern

July 27 2009
By Tim Johnston
Financial Times (UK)

Cambodia's government is under fire because of its legal attack on opponents. Hang Chakra, former editor of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, shares a cell with 50 other convicts in Phnom Penh's notorious Prey Sar prison, serving a one-year sentence for articles that alleged corruption among government officials.

Moeung Sonn, head of the Khmer Cultural Civilisation Foundation, was last month sentenced to two years in jail in absentia for "disinformation" after suggesting a new lighting system at the Angkor Wat temple complex might damage the 600-year-old buildings.

On Friday, a court is to hand down its verdict in a case against Mu Sochua, an opposition parliamentarian accused of defamation against Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister. "I'm sure I will be found guilty unless there is some magic in the air - and I don't feel that there is," she said.

"The . . . government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Rights group condemns Cambodian "crackdown'

Jul 15, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A US-based human rights group on Wednesday demanded Cambodia's leaders end what it called a campaign of 'harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action' against government critics following a spate of court rulings apparently aimed at limiting free speech.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had filed nine defamation and disinformation suits this year against journalists, opposition party members and civil society leaders.

'The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years,' the group's director, Brad Adams, said in a statement. 'Once again, Hun Sen is showing his true stripes by harassing and threatening to imprison peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government.'

The group's demand came a day after Moeung Sonn, president of the non-profit Khmer Civilization Foundation, was sentenced in absentia to two years prison for disinformation, after he accused the government of damaging the historic Angkor Wat temple by installing lighting fixtures in the building's walls.

Moeung Sonn was in France at the time of the ruling.

Last week the publishers of Moneaksekar Khmer, an opposition-affiliated newspaper, closed operations after being threatened with legal action and forced to apologize for recent criticism of government officials, the statement said.

Two opposition lawmakers are expected to face trial for defamation in coming weeks after the CPP-dominated legislature voted to strip the pair of their parliamentary immunity.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the Human Rights Watch statement was based on 'uninformed observations' about Cambodia's media and legal system and 'did not tell the whole story.'

'I appreciate their concern about freedom of speech, but they incorrectly mixed defamation with the other cases, which relate to misinformation and national security,' he said. 'The rule of law requires that the government can take people to court to judge whether they are right or wrong.'