U.S. Welcomes Cambodia's Restoration of Legislators' Immunity

Adam Ereli, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman

28 February 2006

State Department calls it important step in resuming democratic development

The United States welcomes a unanimous decision by the National Assembly of Cambodia to restore full parliamentary immunity to opposition leader Sam Rainsy and opposition legislators Cheam Channy and Chea Poch, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement released February 28.

The move follows earlier decisions that pardoned and ended the prosecution of the three opposition politicians, whose immunity was revoked in February 2005. (See related article.)

Ereli called the assembly’s action an "important step" toward the resumption of democratic development in Cambodia.

"We commend Cambodia's leaders for working together to resolve this issue and look forward to the opposition resuming its full role in the political life in Cambodia," he said.

Following is the text of the statement:

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
February 28, 2006

STATEMENT BY ADAM ERELI, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN

Cambodia: Restoration of Parliamentary Immunity of Opposition MPs

We welcome the unanimous decision by the Cambodian National Assembly on February 28 to restore the parliamentary immunity of opposition leader Sam Rainsy and opposition lawmakers Cheam Channy and Chea Poch. The National Assembly action follows the pardons and halting of prosecution of the opposition members earlier this month, and is an important step toward resuming the democratic development of Cambodia. We commend Cambodia's leaders for working together to resolve this issue and look forward to the opposition resuming its full role in the political life in Cambodia.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)