Not even able to pay tribunal staff … Whiskey Blue (Khieu) boasts that Cambodia could pursue the KRT by itself (sic!)

Whiskey Blue accepting yet another Ph.D. with ZERO education

Cambodia will pursue the KR Tribunal by itself should the UN pull out (sic!)

27 January 2012
Free Press Magazine
Translated from Khmer by Teuk Si Iv (aka Soy Sauce)
Click here to read the original article in Khmer

Recently, the mouthpiece of the Phnom Penh regime said that Cambodia will pursue the KR Tribunal by itself should the UN pull out from this tribunal.

Khieu Kanharith [KI-Media Note: also know as Whiskey Blue or Hennessy Khieu], the minister of Information and mouthpiece of the Phnom Penh regime, said during the introduction of the book “Khmer Rouge leaders will escape the genocide charges?” (មេដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហមគេចវេសពីបទប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍?) at the ACE language school on 25 January that Cambodia has 4 exits for the KR Tribunal:

• (1) the KR Tribunal will function with the participation of the UN under the organization setup the UN Secretary-general,  
• (2) if the UN pulls out of this tribunal, Cambodia could ask countries that members of the UN to send in judges to participate in the trial,  
• (3) Cambodia could invite famous judges to participate in the Tribunal, or  
• (4) the Phnom Penh regime could continue the tribunal operation by itself.

Khieu Kanharith’s statement came at a time when serious imbroglio is taking place between the UN and Cambodia regarding the KR Tribunal in regards to the nomination of Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, the reserved International Co-Investigating Judge who should replace Siegfried Blunk who resigned from his position.

Backflip on UN expulsion

Hor 5 Hong (L) and Khieu Kanharith (R): The prophets of evil on the hellish Hun Xen team?

Sunday, 31 October 2010
Cameron Wells 
The Phnom Penh Post

The government has apparently done an about face on its stance over the closure of the United Nations human rights office in Phnom Penh.

An official has contradicted previous claims that the government had requested the unconditional closure of the office.

In a meeting with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen proposed that Christophe Peschoux, the long-time head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resign from his post.

“If Mr Peschoux is not removed, then the UN human rights office in Phnom Penh will be closed,” Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said after the meeting.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed later that the office would be closed regardless, quoting Hun Sen as having requested the closure of the OHCHR office on the grounds that “other countries in the world don’t have human rights offices, and Cambodia doesn’t want this office either”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong has backed away from Khieu Kanharith’s comments, insisting the government would ask the UN to close the office only as a last resort.

“He [Peschoux] is a spokesperson for the opposition party and does not cooperate with the government of Cambodia,” he said.

Koy Kuong said said Peschoux had failed to adhere to the agreement between the government and the UN that established the office.

“We don’t just want to close [it], we just want the UN to replace Christophe Peschoux,” he said. “If they do not replace him, they [the UN] should close down the office.”

He called the OHCHR “unnecessary” and said there were countless human rights groups capable of filling its role, but reiterated that the office’s closure would only come as a last-ditch measure if Peschoux was not removed.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG SOKHENG

Fined Opposition Lawmaker Leaves for US [-Khieu Kanharith must have one too many whisky again?]

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 18 June 2010

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Mu Sochua was likely fleeing potential arrest by the courts. “To meet Obama is not easy,” he said.

Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, who is facing court action in a suit brought by the prime minister, left for the US on Friday, claiming she wants to screen a film on human trafficking and deliver a petition to the US president.

A government spokesman said she was more likely fleeing court-mandated fines after being found guilty of defamation.

Mu Sochua, who lost an appeal at the Supreme Court earlier this month in a defamation suit brought by Prime Minister Hun Sen, has said she will not pay $4,500 in fines and compensation.

Her court battle with Hun Sen comes at a time when Cambodia’s courts are facing mounting pressure to reform. Earlier this week, the UN envoy for human rights, Surya Subedi, said he did not have faith in the courts’ ability to provide justice to Cambodians.

Subedi referred specifically to the case of Mu Sochua, who was sued by Hun Sen last year after she brought a suit against him alleging he had defamed her with sexist and degrading statements in a series of public speeches.

Prior to her departure, Mu Sochua, a lawmaker for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, distributed a petition through the Internet censuring the Supreme Court’s June 2 decision, which upheld defamation charges against her.

“She will submit the petition to US President Barack Obama,” Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Vann said Friday.

Mu Sochua, who is a former minister of women’s affairs, plans to stay through June 25, to submit her petition to the administration and to take part in the screening of a documentary on human trafficking that she helped produce.

The film, “Red Light,” travels to Cambodia’s brothels and victim centers to underscore the need to eliminate trafficking.

“It is to show the pain of Khmer children,” Mu Sochua told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport prior to her departure Friday.

Human trafficking is a product of “inaction of the government and of poverty,” she said. “So this is to inform the government about the pain and about its responsibility in finding the criminals.”

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Mu Sochua’s film would not have an effect on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, which he said are already underway. The US took Cambodia off a “watch list” of countries not doing enough to fight trafficking earlier this month.

Mu Sochua’s departure also came as court officials moved to collect the fines from her.

Chiv Keng, head judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said Mu Sochua would be “forced to pay.”

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Mu Sochua was likely fleeing potential arrest by the courts. “To meet Obama is not easy,” he said.

Khieu Kanharith: Cambodia is happy to just wait for Thailand to resolve border disputes -sic!-

Cambodia patient over Thailand's turmoil and temple talk delays

Thu, 11 Sep 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia is content to wait for as long as it takes Thailand to settle its political upheavals and resume talks over disputed border territory, its government said Thursday. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said by telephone that it was the least Cambodia could do to give Thailand breathing room to get its internal affairs in order.

"The dispute over the border has been around 100 years," Kanharith said. "A few more weeks can't hurt."

Cambodia closed the border at the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on its northern border in June. On July 7 UNESCO declared the temple a World Heritage Site over Thai objections, and a week later, Thai troops moved into nearby areas that it said are disputed but that Cambodia said is its territory.

Cambodia claimed Thai troops also moved into the Moan temple complex 150 kilometres to the west soon after - claims Thailand denied, saying it has had a troop presence near there for years.

Several rounds of talks have failed to resolve the deadlock with both sides vowing not to back down. Further talks are now on hold.

Thailand's Constitution Court on Tuesday found embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej guilty of violating the national charter for hosting a television cooking show after he assumed office on February 6, forcing him out of his job.

Although the court's ruling immediately deprived Samak of the premiership, the constitution allows him to return to the post if members of parliament vote him back into power.