Prince Ranariddh bets on his political future

Monday, January 21, 2008
By Leang Deluxe
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

The NRP leader is turning to the Supreme Court, the last legal institution able to annul the sentences handed down to him. The political future of the prince and his participation in the July general election will depend on the Supreme Court verdict.

Norodom Ranariddh waited for the very last moment to pursue a new legal avenue. It was on Thursday 17 January, i.e. 5 days prior to the final date, that the prince brought his case to the Supreme Court. He hopes that this jurisdiction will cancel his sentence to 18-month in jail, and $150,000 in fine handed down to him by the Phnom Penh municipal court in 2006. These sentences were also upheld by the Appeal Court in 2007 as well.

The judges found him guilty of breach of trust in the affair opposing him to Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec secretary-general. Nhiek Bun Chhay accused the prince of selling his former party headquarters to his benefit.

In the legal procedure, the prince’s request to annul the sentences must be sent to the Appeal Court first, which then forward it to the Supreme Court. From there, the Supreme Court has up to six months to decide, starting from the date the complaint is handed over to the court. Nevertheless, the NRP hopes a court decision will be made before April, the date when the official candidacy for the general election must be turned over.

Muth Chantha, NRP spokesman, sees in this affair, a desire to “prevent the prince from pursuing his political career.” Feeling that this accusation was aimed at the CPP, Cheam Yeap, a CPP MP, reacted by saying: “Our party never get involved in this case.” Nowadays, Norodom Ranariddh lives in exile in Malaysia, while waiting for a hypothetical return to the forefront of the Cambodian political scene.

NRP appeals the Appeal Court ruling

Thursday, December 26, 2007
Koh Santepheap newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On 26 December 2007, a NRP party official indicated that his party has prepared all the documents to appeal the decision handed down by the Appeal Court which upheld the sentence issued by the Phnom Penh municipal court during an absentia ruling issued on Prince Ranariddh, NRP President and former Funcinpec party president, stemming from a breach of trust charge.

Prince Ranariddh was charged with breach of trust in the sale of the Funcinpec party headquarters, located near the Chrauy Changvar bridge, and he was sentenced to 18-month jail counting from the day he will be arrested, and the prince is also forced to pay $150,000 in damage compensation to Funcinpec, as well as surrendering the new party headquarters to the Funcinpec party.

Muth Chantha, NRP spokesman, declared that his party has prepared all the documents to bring the case to the Supreme Court in the near future. He added: “This appeal is to oppose the decision handed down by the Appeal court which decided to uphold the sentence issued on the prince by the Phnom Penh municipal court.” He added that the (Supreme) court has to accept the (NRP) filing, however, it is not known when it will hold a hearing in this case.

When asked about means that allow the prince to return back to Cambodia in time for the election, Muth Chantha declared: “It all depends on the court, if it is fair and will issue a fair sentence for the prince, then he will be able to return back.” He added that there are several embassy officials who said that the absence of the leader of a party participating in the election shows that the election is not fair.

Nouv Sovathero, Funcinpec spokesman, declared: “We won at the municipal court and the Appeal Court already, we are waiting for the decision from the Supreme Court only. We are following this case, wherever they go, we go there also.” He added: “We borrowed money from others to buy the new party headquarters while waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court to see whether we will win or we will lose in this lawsuit.”

Nevertheless, recently, Prince Ranariddh called for a unification of the royalists and the democrats, by writing letters to Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha. Furthermore, both Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha traveled to France where the prince was staying with the goal of discussing the unification. However, both Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha rejected that they had met with Prince Ranariddh.

Muth Chantha added: “Prince Ranariddh did not meet Messrs. Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, because when the pair arrived in France, Prince Ranariddh already left to return back to Malaysia already.” He added that Prince Ranariddh still maintains his stance for a unification, however, some people are not truthful, they come to unite only to divide the votes, so that the ruling party can uphold its power. He added also: “The return of Prince Ranariddh depends on the court.”