Defamation: Mu Sochua returns to Kingdom

(Photo: AP)

Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
Defamation

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, who arrived in Cambodia last week not long after missing a Supreme Court hearing for the defamation case filed against her by Prime Minister Hun Sen, said Tuesday that she would be willing to show if she were summoned again, though court officials said they had no immediate plans to schedule a new hearing.

Mu Sochua was in the US for the April 7 hearing at which the Supreme Court was expected to read out a verdict in the case. The verdict was postponed in line with her request that it be delayed until she returned. In August, Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Mu Sochua guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen by alleging that he had defamed her in a speech in April 2009. She was ordered to pay a fine of 16.5 million riels (around US$3,975), and that judgment was upheld by the Appeal Court in October. On Tuesday, she reiterated that she would not pay the fine.

Appeals Court to Hear Mu Sochua Case

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

The Appeals Court is expected later this month to hear the defamation case against opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, after she was ordered by a lower court to pay $4,000 in a suit brought by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The case against Mu Sochua, filed after she herself sued the premier for allegedly disparaging remarks in a speech in April, has worried critics of a trend where senior officials have used the courts to silent dissent.

Mu Sochua, who represents Kampong province for the Sam Rainsy Party, appealed when she lost the suit in Phnom Penh Municipal Court in August. She earlier had her parliamentary immunity suspended in order for the courts to pursue its case.

Appeals Court prosecutor Cheth Khemara requested Mu Sochua appear Oct. 28, requesting she “bring various documents relating to this penal case with her, if necessary.”

Ky Tech, Hun Sen’s lawyer, said he was confident the Appeals Court would uphold the finding of the municipal court.

Mu Sochua said she had little hope for a fair verdict.

“I have no choice, but I’ll use a judicial system that I think has very little independence,” she said.

She called on Appeals Court judges “to use their discretion, standing on capacity and judgment with conscience and professionalism.”

Last month, Phnom Penh Municipal Court dropped a defamation case against SRP lawmaker Ho Vann, who had been sued by a group of senior military officials.

Meanwhile, opposition journalist Hang Chakra is serving a one-year prison sentence for publishing stories on corruption within the powerful Council of Ministers.

Cambodia's Sochua Calls for Clinton to Act

10/02/09
By Stephanie Guyer-Stevens
WeNews correspondent

Embattled Cambodian lawmaker Mu Sochua faces potentially dangerous fallout from her recent U.S. tour. But she takes home what she calls a promise by Hillary Clinton, an old ally, to investigate the country's human rights abuses.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (WOMENSENEWS)--Last week, Mu Sochua, the embattled Cambodian opposition lawmaker and longtime women's rights activist, left the United States facing an Oct. 2 court date in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

There, she will be appealing a guilty verdict in what human rights supporters have denounced as a sham trial.

She may also risk arrest for calling attention to human rights violations in Cambodia during her U.S. tour, which consisted of approximately 15 appearances, including a private meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sept. 10.

Just before her meeting with Clinton, Sochua gave an address in Washington, D.C., to the Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights, a nonpartisan group that advocates for international human rights.

In her address, Sochua described an alarming freefall in Cambodian democracy. She said she is particularly concerned about the surge in criminal prosecutions for defamation and disinformation against peaceful critics of the government over the past six months. She also said the core human rights violation in Cambodia today are "land grabs," particularly by the military, in the rural provinces.

Sochua's parliamentary immunity was lifted when she was sued by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for defamation, in response to a suit she had pressed against him, also for defamation.

'I Can Be Arrested Any Time'

"When I go home I can be arrested any time," Sochua said on Sept. 15 in Sacramento. She was addressing the World Affairs Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to expanding public understanding of international issues. "By speaking out like this in Cambodia the reports in government are that I'm a traitor and can be sued, and the sentence for this could be 20 years to life."

The Cambodian member of parliament and internationally known leader in women's rights was found guilty on Aug. 4 of defamation against Prime Minister Hun Sen, leader of the majority Cambodian People's Party. Cambodian human rights groups denounced the verdict as politically biased.

After meeting with Clinton, Sochua reiterated to her audiences across the United States, including the one in Sacramento, that she pressed the top U.S. diplomat to make future U.S. economic aid contingent upon taking action to end human rights abuses.

The office of Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, states that Verveer had been planning a trip to Cambodia to look into women's issues, including unemployment due to the current global economic crisis.

When Sochua heard that Verveer might be coming to Cambodia, she asked Clinton if the ambassador-at-large could also look into some of the issues that Sochua raised regarding the rule of law and freedom of speech.

In her Sept. 15 Sacramento address, Sochua encouraged supporters to petition Clinton to keep her promise about sending a special envoy to investigate human rights abuses.

Cambodia receives approximately $1 billion in annual foreign aid, of which $59 million is from the United States.

Alliance Dating to Beijing

Sochua and Clinton met in 1995 at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, said Alyse Nelson, executive director of Vital Voices, a Washington, D.C.-based women's leadership organization. Nelson says the two leaders have met several times in the ensuing 14 years. Clinton is a co-founder of Vital Voices, along with Madeline Albright, the secretary of state during the Clinton presidency.

Vital Voices gave Sochua a human rights global leadership award in 2005, presented by Clinton, who was then a U.S. Senator from New York. Nelson says Clinton has shown enduring support of Sochua and a willingness to "stand up for what she believes in."

Phay Siphan, secretary of state and spokesperson for the Cambodian Council of Ministers, harshly criticized Sochua's U.S. tour as a betrayal of the country. He was quoted by Radio Free Asia as calling her "a traitor to her oath taken before she occupied her position as a member of parliament."

Cambodia's majority People's Party defended its prime minister. "Prime Minister Hun Sen has always enhanced the reputation and honor of the National Assembly at national and international levels and promoted debates in the adoption of laws without prejudice," said a media statement by the party, which was published by Phnom Penh Post following Sochua's address to the Tom Lanton Commission on Human Rights.

Stephanie Guyer-Stevens is executive producer of Outer Voices. She has been documenting female leaders in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands since 2003.

Hun Xen Chides Mu Sochua’s Appeal Decision

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 August 2009

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday appeared to mock opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, saying she made a mistake by suing him and forcing him to defend himself in a suit of his own.

Mu Sochua was fined for defamation earlier this month after she brought a suit against the premier for allegedly sexist remarks in a speech in April. Mu Sochua has vowed to appeal the decision.

“You were doing press conferences and filed a complaint against me, but now I’ve won the case in the municipal court,” Hun Sen said at a graduation speech in Phnom Penh, in apparent reference to Mu Sochua, who is the Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker for Kampot province.

“[They] said I sued a woman. Why can’t I?” Hun Sen said. “Can’t women make mistakes? [She] said she represents women; this type of woman can’t represent women; don’t make yourself so strong.”

“Now I said this,” the premier continued. “If you file another complaint, go ahead. I will continue by filing another complaint.”

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the party supported Mu Sochua’s decision to appeal.

“The Sam Rainsy Party fully supports Mu Sochua,” he said. “Any decision she consciously makes will get the party’s support.”