U.S. Welcomes Return to Cambodia of Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy

10 February 2006

State urges "unfettered participation" of opposition party in National Assembly

By Todd Bullock
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States welcomes the February 10 return of Cambodian opposition leader and parliamentarian Sam Rainsy to Cambodia, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement released the same day.

"We are pleased to see Cambodia's political leaders engaged in constructive political dialogue, and we look forward to the unfettered participation of the opposition in the National Assembly and further cooperation between government and opposition for the benefit of Cambodia and its people," McCormack said.

Rainsy, founder of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and a former member of parliament from Cambodia's Kampong Cham province, in December 2005 was convicted in absentia on charges of criminal defamation. He was accused of defaming Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the country's National Assembly. (See related article.)

The opposition leader had accused Hun Sen of involvement in a 1997 grenade attack against political opponents and had alleged that Ranariddh had taken bribes to join a coalition with Hun Sen.

Rainsy had been living in France in exile since the National Assembly stripped him and two other SRP members of parliamentary immunity in February 2005. (See related article.)

Rainsy arrived in Phnom Penh following a February 5 pardon by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni. (See related article.)

Rainsy's pardoning came a day after the release of SRP parliamentarian Cheam Channy, who had been sentenced in August 2005 to seven years in prison on charges that he had formed an illegal armed group.

The text of the McCormack statement is available on the State Department Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)