-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Rainsy Party of North America <[email protected]>
Sent: Fri, Feb 26, 2010 6:35 am
Subject: Cambodia's opposition leader faces new lawsuit
Iffound guilty, Sam Rainsy could be sentenced up to 18 years in prison: Ky
Techabout Hun Xen's travesty of justice
(Photo: The Phnom PenhPost)
Cambodia's oppositionleader faces new lawsuit
Friday,February 26, 2010
AP
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Prime Minister Hun Sen'sgovernment filed a lawsuit
Friday against opposition leader Sam Rainsy thataccuses him of spreading false
information about a border dispute withVietnam.
The lawsuit was based on several comments made by Sam Rainsy,who questioned
whether Cambodia's border with Vietnam had been incorrectlymarked by the
government to Cambodia's advantage.
Earlier this week, HunSen described Sam Rainsy's comments as treacherous
because Cambodia already hasa volatile border dispute with Thailand on its
northern and western frontiers,so causing trouble with Vietnam could open up a
potential second area ofconfrontation.
The government's lawyer, Ky Tech,filed the lawsuit at the Phnom Penh Municipal
Court. It accuses Sam Rainsy ofspreading false information verbally, which
carries a prison term of up to threeyears, and in public documents on Web sites
_ which carries a sentence of up to15 years.
If found guilty, Sam Rainsy could be sentenced up to 18 yearsin prison, Ky Tech
said.
Sam Rainsy is living in exile in Paris and wassentenced in absentia by a
Cambodian court last month to two years' imprisonmentfor a political protest in
which border markers on the frontier with Vietnamwere uprooted.
The SamRainsy Party is the sole opposition party in parliament and Sam Rainsy
is afierce, longtime critic of Hun Sen. His previous tangles with thegovernment
have seen him go into self-imposed exile.
Hun Sen wasinstalled after a Vietnamese invasion that ousted the genocidal
Khmer Rougeregime in 1979. He is sympathetic with Hanoi, while Sam Rainsy bases
part of hispolitical appeal on pandering to traditional anti-Vietnamese
sentiment commonamong Cambodians who don't trust their much larger neighbor.
------------------------
Cambodiafiles new suit against opposition leader
The Cambodian government has filed afresh lawsuit against the country's
fugitive opposition leader, Sam Rainsy(pictured), over claims he forged and
published a false map of the border withneighbouring Vietnam.
26/02/2010
AFP
The Cambodian government Friday filed a freshlawsuit against the country's
fugitive opposition leader over claims he forgedand published a false map of
the border with neighbouringVietnam.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who lives in self-imposed exile inFrance, was
sentenced in absentia last month to two years in prison over arelated
conviction for uprooting border posts and inciting racialdiscrimination.
The new lawsuit was filed with Phnom Penh MunicipalCourt, government lawyer Ky
Tech told AFP.
"Thelawsuit involves forging public documents and publicising disinformation
relatedto the forgery of a map in order to manipulate the public over the
border issuewith Vietnam," Ky Tech said.
In his January conviction, Sam Rainsy andtwo villagers were found guilty of
intentionally damaging temporary border postslast October.
In the new case he is accused of posting a "fake map" ofthe border on his
party's website, which the government says depicts incorrectborder markings
with Vietnam.
No formal map has yet been agreed betweenthe two countries.
Sam Rainsy could face up to 15 years in prison forforging public documents and
up to three years in jail for disseminating falseinformation if convicted, the
lawyer said.
Neither he nor his partyspokesman could be reached for comment.
Cambodia and Vietnam officiallybegan demarcating their contentious border in
September 2006 after decades ofterritorial disputes.
Anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia in rife,fuelled by resentment at
Vietnam's expansion over the centuries and the feelingthat Cambodia is losing
some of its territory.
But Cambodian PrimeMinister Hun Sen maintains close relations with the
Vietnamese regime and SamRainsy, whose party shares his name, has repeatedly
accused the government ofceding land to Vietnam.
Vietnam and Cambodia share a 1,270-kilometre(790-mile) border, which has
remained vague since French colonialtimes.
French-educated former finance minister Sam Rainsy is the mainrival to Hun Sen.
He has promised to promote liberal democracy and human rights,raise wages and
fight corruption if elected.
Hun Sen this week accusedSam Rainsy of treachery for trying to stir up problems
at the Vietnamese borderwhile Cambodia is already embroiled in a bitter border
dispute withThailand.
----------------------
=
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group.
This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language.
Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc
Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org
