Australian MPs Said to Support Monk's Return

Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
16 August 2007

Three Australian lawmakers have said they will work to return to Cambodia an imprisoned monk in Vietnam, an advocate said Thursday.

Members of the Khmer Krom Monks Association met with the Australian lawmakers Wednesday, said Venerable Chey Samnang, vice president of the organization.

During the meeting his group asked Australia to help solve a number of problems facing Khmer Kampuchea Krom people, including the arrests of several monks and the recent detention of Tim Sakhorn in Vietnam.

Tim Sakhorn, a Khmer Krom monk recently defrocked in Cambodia for allegedly inciting unrest between the two countries, is in Vietnamese custody, following his apparent expulsion from Cambodia.

Tim Sakhorn's detention is a violation of Khmer Krom people and monks, Chey Samnang said.

"Three Australian congressmen have promised that they would bring the Khmer Krom issues to discuss in the Australian congress," he said. "And one congressman even promised to write a personal letter to the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments asking for the return of Tim Sakhorn to Cambodia."

He did not give the names of the three parliamentarians.

Vietnamese authorities say Tim Sakhorn was arrested for entering Vietnam illegally.

"Tim Sakhorn is a Vietnamese citizen," said Trinh Ba Cam, a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy. "He violated Vietnamese laws and therefore he must be punished according to Vietnamese laws."

Tim Sakhorn's supporters say he is a Cambodian citizen who deserves protection under Cambodian law.

Tim Thieng, Tim Sakhorn's 80-year-old father, said Wednesday in a letter to Foreign Minister Hor Namhong that defrocking and sending his son to Vietnam was unfair for a Cambodian who should have full protection under Cambodian laws.

Monk Tim Sakhorn’s father says that he lost all his hope

Grandpa Tim Tieng, Monk Tim Sakhorn's father, is seen on the left of this photo taken during a joint press confrence held on 20 July 2007. (Photo: Khmer Kampucha Krom Community)

10 August 2007
By Khim Sarang
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Several days after the intervention help provided by human rights groups and Khmer Krom associations to Cambodian leaders, Grandpa Tim Tieng, the 80-year-old father of Monk Tim Sakhorn, said that he lost all hope that the Cambodian government will provide any help so that he can visit his son who is currently jailed in Vietnam.

Last week, an official from the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh declared that Khmer Krom Monk Tim Sakhorn is currently jailed in Vietnam and that he will face his sentencing there for perpetrating a political crime because of his involvement with the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) activities from overseas, and that the KKF is involved with the legal liberation of Kampuchea Krom back.

Monk Tim Sakhorn’s father asked that if Vietnam will sentence his son, what will become of the Cambodian Constitution which recognizes his son as a full Cambodian citizen?

Grandpa Tim Tieng said: “If he is sentenced in Vietnam, it looks like Cambodia is not effective at all. This accusation, I don’t know what it is … I don’t understand it.”

At the beginning of this week, Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the government, said that there is diplomatic contact made to request the investigation into the case on Monk Tim Sakhorn who was arrested by Vietnam.

Khieu Kanharith said that Cambodian officials are waiting for the result of this investigation request.

But, up until this Thursday, there is no report about the result of this investigation yet.

Monk Tim Sakhorn’s father added: “First they accused him of having an affair with a woman, then after the affair accusation, now it turns into something else. First, they said that he went [to Vietnam] by himself, and he crossed the border without proper paper work, next, they said that he signed a contract on his own asking Monk Tep Vong to return back home [in Kampuchea Krom]. So where lies the truth?”

The arrest of Monk Tim Sakhorn and his defrocking by force in the past generated numerous protests both in Cambodia and abroad.

Thach Ngoc Thach, KKF President – whose movement is being opposed by Hanoi’s regime which accuses the KKF of wanting to liberate their country (Kampuchea Krom) through international legal means – declared that he is currently in Australia to search for international help for the case of Monk Tim Sakhorn.