IPU's confidential decision in opposition leader Sam Rainsy's case

Click on the report to zoom in

Considering that Mr. Rainsy’s conviction on charges of destruction of property and incitement to racial hatred may effectively bar him from standing in the 2013 elections since, according to Article 34(2) of the Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly, persons who are sentenced to imprisonment for a felony or misdemeanour by the courts and who have not been rehabilitated are not eligible to stand as candidates for election to the National Assembly,

1. Observes that the case of Mr. Rainsy must be seen in the context of recent cases brought against members of the opposition and the consequences they have not only on the ability of opposition members to exercise their parliamentary mandate to the full, in particular their right to freedom of speech, but also on their ability to stand in the forthcoming elections;
2. Reaffirms that issues such as this belong in the political sphere and should be dealt with and resolved there; fears that by bringing such cases before the courts, the judiciary may be exploited for political purposes, and therefore deplores that the matter was brought before a court;
3. Reaffirms that the judicial action against Mr. Rainsy bears no relationship to the alleged offence and is alarmed that, if maintained, it will have consequences far beyond the present case;
4. Calls once again on the authorities to resolve the issues at hand through political dialogue and to make it possible for Mr. Rainsy to resume his parliamentary activities as quickly as possible;
5. Recalls its grave concerns at the way in which the National Assembly lifts immunity and reiterates its wish to ascertain why it resorts to such a procedure, which can only cast doubt on its independence of the Government;
6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the parliamentary authorities and to the sources; requests him also to inform donor countries of its concerns in this case;
7. Decides to continue examining this case at its next session, to be held during the 123rd IPU Assembly (October 2010).

Cheam Yeap’s angry reaction to IPU letter regarding Sam Rainsy’s immunity lifting case

05 March 2009
By San Suwith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

CPP MP Cheam Yeap reacted to a letter sent by Ander Johnson, IPU Secretary-general, demanding that the Cambodian National Assembly (NatAss) returns back Sam Rainsy’s immunity, by saying that this issue is not that important.

Nevertheless, he indicated that the path to this issue must follow the same road it started with.

Cheam Yeap said: “If Mr. Sam Rainsy paid beforehand, there wouldn’t be any problem, but he … he is overstepping the bounds (? or rude?), he created havoc so that he can go report and defame others by all means. This, I want to tell you in my name as a Cambodian son only, Mr. Sam Rainsy always do this many times already, when he is scared … when his immunity was lifted, he is scared, he goes on to report it at the IPU, he complained to the king in every way. So now, however the case came in, it should go out the same way, that is, right now, the (NatAss) permanent committee has decided to suspend his immunity so that the court can question him, as he already paid (his fine), he must send a letter to ask Samdach (Heng Samrin) to return back his immunity, that’s the end of it.”

Sam Rainsy, who is currently in France, indicated on 26 Feb that the NatAss permanent committee lifted his immunity, he already sent a letter to ask that his immunity be returned back to him, but no positive reply was provided back to him immediately.

Sam Rainsy said: “He shouldn’t say that, I wanted to exhaust all the legal means available, for a penal case, only the Supreme Court can have the final say. I am very puzzled, all the legal recourses have not been exhausted yet, but the NatAss hastily decided to lift my immunity, this is regarding the legal issue. When the National Election Committee wrote a letter to the court saying that it already received my fine payment, then the NatAss should end this case immediately, but they are in no hurry, they want to drag it on for weeks and months, as long as they want. I say that this action is not proper at all.”

On Monday of this week, a high-ranking official of the Cambodian ministry of Justice indicated that, up to then, he did not receive any request from the court to return back Sam Rainsy’s immunity yet.

It should be noted also that the Cambodian NatAss, in its desire to maintain a good relationship with the IPU that includes more than 200 parliaments membership worldwide, has decided to host a large IPU meeting in Phnom Penh next week.