Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post
If convicted, Ho Vann could become the third government critic to receive a prison sentence since the opposition-aligned publisher Hang Chakra was sentenced to one year in prison on June 26. Khmer Civilisation Foundation Chairman Moeung Sonn received a two-year sentence on Tuesday for criticising a light installation project at Angkor Wat temple.
Ho Vann likely to be tried in absentia on charges he defamed officers
NEITHER opposition lawmaker Ho Vann nor his former attorney will appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court today to answer to disinformation and defamation charges filed against him, but his supporters said Thursday that this would have little effect on the outcome of his case, which they described as both preordained and highly politicised.
"Whether Ho Vann shows up at the trial tomorrow or not is not important because we expect the court will decide because of orders from the ruling Cambodian People's Party," Yim Sovann said.
Ho Vann, who is currently in the United States, was accused of defaming 22 senior RCAF officials after he made comments to a local newspaper that the officials say denigrate the quality of academic degrees they received from a Vietnamese military institute. He has since said he was misquoted.
The reporter who quoted him, Neou Vannarin of The Cambodia Daily, has also been summoned to appear today.
If convicted, Ho Vann could become the third government critic to receive a prison sentence since the opposition-aligned publisher Hang Chakra was sentenced to one year in prison on June 26. Khmer Civilisation Foundation Chairman Moeung Sonn received a two-year sentence on Tuesday for criticising a light installation project at Angkor Wat temple.
Yim Sovann said Thursday that Ho Vann had not had time to find a new lawyer after his previous lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, who was facing a defamation charge of his own and possible disbarment, defected to the CPP earlier this month.
Along with other Ho Vann supporters, Yim Sovann criticised the charges against him as part of a concerted political attack against the party.
But Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, said the outcome of the case was up to the court and thus would not be influenced by politics.
"The case is not in government hands," he said.
Chev Keng, president of the Phnom Penh Muncipal Court, was unavailable for comment on Thursday, and Deputy Prosecutor Sok Roeun declined to speak with a reporter.
After the Vietnamese invasion the main transport we used were bicycles, there were three types of them; Kang Yuon, Kang Khmer and Kang Thai. Do you recall which one was the best and which one was the worse? My father called Kang Yuon as Yuon Khlab (yab khluon).
ReplyDeleteDemocratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
ReplyDeleteTortures
Executions
Massacres
Atrocities
Crimes Against Humanity
Starvations
Overwork to Death
Slavery
Rapes
Human Abuses
Assault and Battery
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
Assassinations
Assassinate Journalists
Assassinate Political Opponents
Murders
Killings
Extrajudicial Execution
Grenade Attack
Terrorism
Drive by Shooting
Tortures
Intimidations
Death Threats
Threatening
Human Abductions
Human Rights Abuses
Human Trafficking
Drugs Trafficking
Under Age Child Sex
Corruptions
Bribery
Illegal Mass Evictions
Illegal Land Grabbing
Illegal Firearms
Illegal Logging
Illegal Deforestation
Illegally use of remote detonation on Sokha Helicopter, while Hok Lundy and others military official on board.
Illegally Sold State Properties
Illegally Remove Parliamentary Immunity of Parliament Members
Plunder National Resources
Acid Attacks
Turn Cambodia into a Lawless Country
Oppression
Injustice
Steal Votes
Bring Foreigners from Veitnam to vote in Cambodia for Cambodian People's Party.
Abuse the Court as a tools for CPP to send political opponents and journalists to jail.
Abuse of Power
Abuse the Laws
Abuse the National Election Committee
Abuse the National Assembly
Violate the Laws
Violate the Constitution
Violate the Paris Accords
Impunity
Under Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime, no criminals that has been committed all of these crimes above within Hun Sen Khmer Rouge government have ever been brought to justice.
Stop this stupidity. Cambodia needs to get rid of these former Angkar Leu comrades who are running the country. A degree is just a piece of shit which has no value.
ReplyDeleteWhy our king never hear any call out for justice? Is he also living in fear?And where is our king father who claims that he loves his children and grand children dearly.Cambodians in cambobodia are living in fear,unjust by own govt.Please come to live in cambodia if you really cares.
ReplyDelete8:08 AM ,
ReplyDeleteyou have a good point here.....but don't put your money on these monkeys kings "the father king or the son king".....the current king is nothing but the rubber stamp of ah kwack regime.....this animal use the current king just to certified his action.....either get promotion for his clique or put the opposition in jail,this gay king always there..... period .....the father king is too busy praising ah kwack and his gang for the allowance $$$$$$ in order to live large in exile before he die......