Licadho Staffer Sentenced to Two Years for Leaflet Distribution

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 30 August 2010

The sentencing appeared to be the result of “pressure from politicans or government officials.”

Four men including a human rights worker received lengthy jail sentences in Takeo province Monday, after they were found guilty of distributing leaflets allegedly insulting the former king and the government.

Leang Sokchoeun, a 28-year-old staff member of Licadho, fainted after hearing his guilty verdict and two-year prison sentence. He was taken to the provincial hospital in an ambulance.

Two other men, Thack Vannak, 34, a Vietnamese interpreter; and Thach Le, a 61-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, both received two-year sentences. A fourth man, a monk named Thach Kong Phuong, 34, who remains at large, was sentenced to three years in absentia.

All four are accused of distributing leaflets in Takeo province critical of the January holiday celebrating the ouster of the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh by Vietnamese forces. The January Seven holiday is politically devisive, with some hailing it as a day of liberation and others as a herald of a decade of occupation.

The court said police had provided evidence and witness testimony placing the men at the site of a leaflet distribution.

However, Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator for Licadho, said the decision was unfair and the evidence unclear. The sentencing appeared to be the result of “pressure from politicans or government officials,” he said.

EVICTIONS Land-related arrests on the rise in '09

Thursday, 11 June 2009
Written by Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

The number of people arrested and detained in cases related to land disputes more than doubled in the first five months of 2009 compared with the first six months of 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by the local rights group Adhoc. The report states that 69 people have been arrested and detained so far this year, with 35 of them remaining in prison. Warrants are still out for an additional 66 people. In the first six months of last year, only 30 people were arrested and detained, said Ny Chakrya, the head of the monitoring section of Adhoc. "More people have been arrested and detained, while others are on run to escape from police's arrests over land issues," he said.

Mu Sochua Considers Dropping Hun Sen Suit

Mu Sochua (R), secretary general of Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
08 May 2009

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua said Thursday she would consider dropping a defamation suit against the prime minister if Hun Sen drops his against her.

The two are heading for a legal battle, after Mu Sochua filed a complaint in Phnom Penh court alleging Hun Sen had made disparaging, sexually discriminating remarks about her in the run-up to the July 2008 general election.

Hun Sen countersued, saying her accusation defamed him.

“To protect the country, if both sides agree to withdraw the complaints, I agree,” Mu Sochua said Thursday, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

The Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker said she had complained about Hun Sen’s comments to protect the value of women in general, especially because the government has said it values women in politics and administration.

“I just want responsibility for the words spoken by the prime minister,” she said.

Some members of the National Assembly are considering suspending Mu Sochua’s parliamentary immunity, but she said she was not worried as long as “everything follows the law.”

CAMBODIA: The Bar Association must not be an instrument to curtail professional freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-100-2009
May 8, 2009

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

The international norms and standards relating to the legal profession require that the lawyers could practice their profession without fear and intimidation. The professional rights of the lawyers have been recognised globally. The lawyers in Cambodia have the same status and the rights as their counterparts in other countries. The exclusive purpose of a Bar Association is to protect the independence and the integrity of the legal profession. Above all, the Bar must protect the lawyers from interferences by the executive. A recent case against Kong Sam Onn where an investigation against him has started by the Bar Association of Cambodia regarding acts he did in relation to his professional duties raise concerns about the threats to the legal profession in the country.

On 23 April, Kong Sam Onn, a lawyer, was present at a news conference where his client, Mu Sochua, a female Member of Parliament (MP) for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, announced her defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen. She alleged derogatory remarks made against her in a public speech in Kampot province in early April. In that speech Hun Sen called an unnamed woman "cheung klang", a Khmer phrase (literally strong leg) meaning "gangster", and said that she had embraced an army officer and sued him afterwards. Mu took these together with other remarks as targeting her, not any other woman, as they matched her status and activities.

Several days later, on 27 April, Hun Sen countersued Mu and her lawyer Kong Sam Onn for their respective alleged defamatory remarks made against him during a news conference.

Hun subsequently called for the suspension of Mu's parliamentary immunity so that the courts could prosecute her. He was confident that this suspension would be "as easy as ABC", while his own suspension would be unlikely as his party has an overwhelming majority in Parliament. This call has been viewed as a threat to and intimidation against the opposition MP.

Several days later, on 30 April, Hun Sen's lawyer, Ky Tech, filed a complaint with the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia against Kong. It was lodged for the latter's remarks against Hun Sen during and after the news conference together with his alleged violation of the code of ethics for lawyers. Ky's complaint has prompted action by the Bar due to his influence as their former president and a government lawyer. The Bar has started its investigation which could lead to a range of disciplinary actions including Kong's debarment, which has already been mentioned. Chiv Senghak, the current President of the Bar, said that Kong could receive a warning, have his license suspended, or be debarred as a legal professional altogether. But Chiv did not prejudge the outcome; it would be up to the decision of the Bar's Disciplinary Council.

Kong has maintained that his remarks are not defamatory. He has made them in the defense of his client in his capacity as a lawyer and has not violated in any way the code of ethics for lawyers. During the news conference on 23 April, he said that his client Mu Sochua was the target of Hun Sen's derogatory remarks even though Hun Sen did not name her specifically. To pretend otherwise would be a "cowardly act", he asserted. He called Hun Sen's remarks insulting and inappropriate. He urged Hun Sen to imitate the Thai foreign minister who had apologized to Hun Sen, roughly a month previously. After that minister had called Hun Sen "nak leng", an appreciative Thai phrase meaning "lion-hearted and courageous" but with its derogatory Khmer equivalent meaning of "gangster".

Such remarks by Kong against Hun Sen do not seem to be specifically proscribed by the Law or the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia of 1995 or by the Code of Ethics for Lawyers which the Bar had issued in the same year.

Ky's complaint and the Bar's subsequent action together with Hun Sen's lawsuit were probably meant to serve as a threat and to intimidate Kong, a lawyer who had the audacity to make unpleasant remarks against the Prime Minister, known as "the Strongman of Cambodia". If tolerated, such a threat and intimidation would further enhance the known government control of the legal profession, undermine the independence of the Bar which is clearly stipulated under Article 1 of the Law on the Bar, and also prevent lawyers from playing their role as officers of the court.

At the individual level, the Bar's investigation into the defamation complaint against Kong, its outcome, and the action eventually taken against Kong Sam Onn are very much prejudicial to his case in court where he is facing the same charge. The plaintiff will use them in court to support the charge against him thereby swaying the court's decision against him. All these developments, beginning with Ky Tech's complaint with the Bar, will further reduce the chance of Kong having a fair trial with courts already under executive control.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Bar Association of the Kingdom Cambodia to ensure that the lawsuit and the complaint against Kong Sam Onn will not have any negative consequence on the independence of the legal profession and his case in court. It should uphold this independence and withstand any external pressure. The Bar, with regard to Kong's case, should hold its investigation in abeyance, if such an investigation is called for, until the court has adjudicated the defamation lawsuit against him. As a matter of urgency, it should set out to ensure that Kong, a member of the Bar, has a fair trial in court.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Bar Must Be Neutral, Rights Watchdog Says

Kong Sam Onn, Mu Sochua's lawyer

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 May 2009

The Cambodian Bar Association must remain neutral and unbiased as the government pursues a defamation case against an attorney for the opposition party, the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said Friday.

The attorney, Kong Sam On, is facing a countersuit by Prime Minisister Hun Sen, following the pursuit of a defamation case against the premier on the behalf of Mu Sochua, an opposition lawmaker for the Sam Rainsy Party.

The Cambodian bar, until recently led by a controversial president, Ky Tech, has suspended Kong Sam On’s license to allow the court’s to investigate the case. Ky Tech is also the attorney for Hun Sen.

Mu Sochua alleges that Hun Sen made disparaging remarks about her in the run-up to the 2008 National Assembly election, a charge repeated by Kong Sam On at a press conference in April. Hun Sen countersued both of them, also for defamation.

In an April 30 letter to the bar, Ky Tech said comments made by Kong Sam On at the press conference were a violation of the code of ethics for lawyers.

The bar’s current president, Chiv Song Hak, said the bar was now looking into Kong Sam On’s case.

“The Bar should stand neutrally for all lawyers,” Kong Sam On said.