Saturday, October 06, 2007By Chey Dara
Sralanh Khmer newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Prime minister Hun Sen wrote a letter to His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, the father of the Khmer Nation, on 28 September 2007, regarding the case of the defrocking and threat against a Khmer Monk who were born in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam). The letter was a response to a question raised by Mr. Thach Setha, executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community.
In his clarification, the prime minister accused former Abbot Tim Sakhorn and his gang of leading demonstrations which undermined the multi-millennium friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam.
On 03 October 2007, Hun Sen made a declaration, during the inauguration of the medical school in Phnom Penh, about the good relationship between Cambodia and the US. His claim about this good relationship with the US came right after King-Father Norodom Sihanouk said, recently, that the KR Tribunal must bring to court those countries which contributed to the formation of the Khmer rouge regime in Cambodia also, especially the US which bombed Cambodia a few decades ago, and these bombardments were the cause for the Khmer Rouge to be able to grab power. King-Father also said that the US was backing General Lon Nol in his coup d’état to remove him (King-Father) from power on 18 March 1970, and since then the Khmer Rouge forces became ever stronger. King-Father’s words could make Hun Sen accuse him of undermining the relationship between Cambodia and the US, and thereby could make Hun Sen arrest King-Father, and deport him to the US, just like what his regime did to Monk Tim Sakhorn, the former abbot of the Phnom Den North pagoda, who was defrocked and deported to Vietnam.
A former official in King-Father’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime expressed his personal view by saying that if Hun Sen arrests all those who criticize the USA, accuses them of undermining the relationship between the two countries (Cambodia and the USA), and deports them to the US to be jailed there – just like the arrest made against Monk Tim Sakhorn and his incarceration in Vietnam – then there will be a huge number of Cambodians, especially the poor ones who are forced to go find work in Thailand, they will start cussing the US and demonstrating against the US so that Hun Sen would arrest them and deport them to the US to be jailed there. These poor people reason that at least in the US jail, food is very good, there is a good place to sleep, and life would be much better than being an illegal worker in Thailand.
A person involved with the law said that Hun Sen’s clarification letter to King-Father dated 28 September 2007, seems to show that Hun Sen is not knowledgeable of the meaning of the Cambodian Constitution. In his letter, Hun Sen recognizes that Monk Tim Sakhorn is Khmer Kampuchea Krom, i.e. he is Cambodian and is protected by the Constitution also.
The same person above also indicated that the 7 Makara (07 January: date of the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia) supreme patriarch Tep Vong illegally forced the defrocking of former Abbot Tim Sakhorn, and the authority which arrests its own people and handed him (Tim Sakhorn) to Vietnam to be jailed is also against the law, because the Cambodian Constitution does not contain any clause which stipulates that the government must arrest its own people and hand that person to another country to be jailed there, just because that Cambodian citizen talks or peacefully expresses his/her opinions. To the contrary, Article 33 of the Constitution protects the Cambodian citizen from being deported to another country.
Hun Sen wrote in his letter to King-Father: “I want to inform your majesty that regarding this case, the royal government ordered a research on the spot, and we received the results below: The abbot of the Boaknaram Pagoda, Venerable Tim Sakkhorn, is a Khmer Kampuchea Krom, he was born in Khla Kroheum village, Bachuk commune, Svay Tong province, An Giang province of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, he stayed at the Boaknaram pagoda (Phnom Den North pagoda) located in Phsar village, Phnom Den commune, Kirivong district, Takeo province. …”
Yesterday, several of our readers called us by phone, wanting us to ask Hun Sen through our newspaper, that if they undermine the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, will the Cambodian authority arrests them and deports them to the US or not? If peaceful demonstrations against the US will result in an arrest by the Cambodian authority, and a deportation to the US, surely, there will be a lot of Cambodians who will start demonstrating against the US just so that Hun Sen would deport them to the US.
Dear readers, Sralanh Khmer is saying that if, in general, any individual undermines the relationship between Cambodia and another country, that person will deported to be jailed in the country which was aimed at, then, one day, Hun Sen will come around and arrest King-Father who is constantly criticizing the US, and thereby, undermining the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, King-Father could then be deported to the US for sure.
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KI-Media Note:
Article 33 - Khmer citizens shall not be deprived of their nationality, exiled or arrested and deported to any foreign country unless there is mutual agreement on extradition. Khmer citizens residing abroad enjoy the protection of the State. The Khmer nationality shall be determined by law.
In his clarification, the prime minister accused former Abbot Tim Sakhorn and his gang of leading demonstrations which undermined the multi-millennium friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam.
On 03 October 2007, Hun Sen made a declaration, during the inauguration of the medical school in Phnom Penh, about the good relationship between Cambodia and the US. His claim about this good relationship with the US came right after King-Father Norodom Sihanouk said, recently, that the KR Tribunal must bring to court those countries which contributed to the formation of the Khmer rouge regime in Cambodia also, especially the US which bombed Cambodia a few decades ago, and these bombardments were the cause for the Khmer Rouge to be able to grab power. King-Father also said that the US was backing General Lon Nol in his coup d’état to remove him (King-Father) from power on 18 March 1970, and since then the Khmer Rouge forces became ever stronger. King-Father’s words could make Hun Sen accuse him of undermining the relationship between Cambodia and the US, and thereby could make Hun Sen arrest King-Father, and deport him to the US, just like what his regime did to Monk Tim Sakhorn, the former abbot of the Phnom Den North pagoda, who was defrocked and deported to Vietnam.
A former official in King-Father’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime expressed his personal view by saying that if Hun Sen arrests all those who criticize the USA, accuses them of undermining the relationship between the two countries (Cambodia and the USA), and deports them to the US to be jailed there – just like the arrest made against Monk Tim Sakhorn and his incarceration in Vietnam – then there will be a huge number of Cambodians, especially the poor ones who are forced to go find work in Thailand, they will start cussing the US and demonstrating against the US so that Hun Sen would arrest them and deport them to the US to be jailed there. These poor people reason that at least in the US jail, food is very good, there is a good place to sleep, and life would be much better than being an illegal worker in Thailand.
A person involved with the law said that Hun Sen’s clarification letter to King-Father dated 28 September 2007, seems to show that Hun Sen is not knowledgeable of the meaning of the Cambodian Constitution. In his letter, Hun Sen recognizes that Monk Tim Sakhorn is Khmer Kampuchea Krom, i.e. he is Cambodian and is protected by the Constitution also.
The same person above also indicated that the 7 Makara (07 January: date of the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia) supreme patriarch Tep Vong illegally forced the defrocking of former Abbot Tim Sakhorn, and the authority which arrests its own people and handed him (Tim Sakhorn) to Vietnam to be jailed is also against the law, because the Cambodian Constitution does not contain any clause which stipulates that the government must arrest its own people and hand that person to another country to be jailed there, just because that Cambodian citizen talks or peacefully expresses his/her opinions. To the contrary, Article 33 of the Constitution protects the Cambodian citizen from being deported to another country.
Hun Sen wrote in his letter to King-Father: “I want to inform your majesty that regarding this case, the royal government ordered a research on the spot, and we received the results below: The abbot of the Boaknaram Pagoda, Venerable Tim Sakkhorn, is a Khmer Kampuchea Krom, he was born in Khla Kroheum village, Bachuk commune, Svay Tong province, An Giang province of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, he stayed at the Boaknaram pagoda (Phnom Den North pagoda) located in Phsar village, Phnom Den commune, Kirivong district, Takeo province. …”
Yesterday, several of our readers called us by phone, wanting us to ask Hun Sen through our newspaper, that if they undermine the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, will the Cambodian authority arrests them and deports them to the US or not? If peaceful demonstrations against the US will result in an arrest by the Cambodian authority, and a deportation to the US, surely, there will be a lot of Cambodians who will start demonstrating against the US just so that Hun Sen would deport them to the US.
Dear readers, Sralanh Khmer is saying that if, in general, any individual undermines the relationship between Cambodia and another country, that person will deported to be jailed in the country which was aimed at, then, one day, Hun Sen will come around and arrest King-Father who is constantly criticizing the US, and thereby, undermining the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, King-Father could then be deported to the US for sure.
-----
KI-Media Note:
Article 33 - Khmer citizens shall not be deprived of their nationality, exiled or arrested and deported to any foreign country unless there is mutual agreement on extradition. Khmer citizens residing abroad enjoy the protection of the State. The Khmer nationality shall be determined by law.
