*បុត្រាច្បងរបស់ជនផ្តាច់ការគឺលោក ហ៊ុន ម៉ាណែត ត្រូវសាលាក្រុងឡូវ៉ែល បដិសេធមិនទទួលស្វាគមន៍https://www.facebook.com/posts/490089441199558 <https://www.facebook.com/pengan.tan/posts/490089441199558>https://www.facebook.com/posts/490081781200324 <https://www.facebook.com/pengan.tan/posts/490081781200324>*
*Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/posts/490002274541608 <https://www.facebook.com/pengan.tan/posts/490002274541608>* *Lowell Cambodians plan protest ahead of visit by PM's son* *http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_29698211/lowell-cambodians-plan-protest-ahead-visit-by-presidents#ixzz44MatrG00 <http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_29698211/lowell-cambodians-plan-protest-ahead-visit-by-presidents#ixzz44MatrG00>* By Grant Welker <gwel...@lowellsun.com?subject=Lowell%20Sun%20Online:> [image: Members of the Long Beach, Calif., Cambodian community protest at a Long Beach City Council meeting on March 22. The group was protesting against Cambodian] <http://www.lowellsun.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=7454535> Members of the Long Beach, Calif., Cambodian community protest at a Long Beach City Council meeting on March 22. The group was protesting against Cambodian General Hun Manet (bottom photo), son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hen Sen, and his possible involvement in the city s 2016 Cambodian New Year Parade.COURTESY PHOTO LOWELL -- Local Cambodians are planning a demonstration outside City Hall today to protest the upcoming visit of Hun Manet, the son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and who they see as representing the corrupt politics they thought they left half a world behind. The planned U.S. tour by Manet, a lieutenant general in the Cambodian military and Sen's first son, has already generated criticism in Long Beach, Calif., a city with the largest Cambodian population in America. Manet, 39, has reportedly decided to skip a planned parade there. Lowell's Cambodian population of 30,000 is second in the U.S. to only Long Beach, and the first demonstration here is scheduled for 6 p.m. today. [image: Hun Manet.] <http://www.lowellsun.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=7454533> Hun Manet. (COURTESY OF STEPHEN CARR/DAILY BREEZE) It will take place before the City Council meeting, during which a resident, Champa Pang, has requested to speak about Manet's visit. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, has ruled Cambodia for 30 years in which his government has been criticized for human-rights abuses and corruption by the United States and other western nations. In the most high-profile cases, Sen has been accused of ordering his security forces to arrest opposition leaders and confiscate family property. In recent years, Sen has tried to placate the rising domestic and global call for reforms by entering into negotiations for free democratic elections with opponents from the Cambodian National Rescue Party. U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry has met with Sen to discuss political and economic reforms, and Sen also met with President Barack Obama at a recent Asian-U.S. trade conference held in California. But Cambodians in America have never been shy about voicing their complaints about politics back home, describing Sen as a dictator who won't give up control even if elections are held and his Cambodian People's Party loses. Manet's visit to Lowell, set for April 16 and 17, has angered some in the Cambodian community. There is speculation that Manet, who was educated at the U.S. Military Academy, is his father's heir apparent. Manet is scheduled to mark the Cambodian New Year while in Lowell, a visit that includes meeting with Mayor Ed Kennedy, talks with business and youth groups, and a dinner at the Pailin City restaurant in Lowell's Cambodia Town. He will also dedicate a small monument given to the people of Lowell as a gift from the mayor of Phnom Penh. Kennedy said there was "certainly time to change the visit around," when asked about criticism of Manet's plans. The mayor said he plans to meet with Manet for about 20 to 30 minutes, not the red-carpet type of welcome that he said some are expecting from the city. "I don't feel like I should be influenced by the politics of Cambodia, and I also think that somebody's son shouldn't be held accountable for disagreements you have with their father," Kennedy said. Manet visited Lowell in October 2014, but it didn't receive nearly the same amount of attention. In Long Beach last week, hundreds of protesters rallied outside a City Council meeting to call for city officials to keep Manet out of an April 10 Cambodian New Year Parade there. The council did not take a vote on the matter but at least one councilor said she would not attend, according to the Long Beach newspaper, the Press-Telegram. A Cambodian newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post, reported online Monday that Manet would not attend the Long Beach event. He is quoted as saying: "As a conscientious child of Cambodia, I don't want to see turbid feelings and division between Khmer and Khmer and, particularly, I want to avoid any possible violence ... during the parade that would damage the interests of the nation; (therefore) my team and I decided not to attend the parade." A petition to the Lowell City Council from resident Champa Pang urged officials to "be aware of Hun Manet's actuall (sic) intentions." She said he will be in America to recruit youth to his father's ruling party. "This is the exact opportune time for Hun Manet to gain popular interest and build a rapport with U.S. officials on false terms," says the petition, which was accompanied by seven signatures. Soben Pin, the managing director of the Lowell-based KhmerPostUSA, said Monday that she and other opponents don't want to keep Manet from visiting Lowell but that the city shouldn't welcome him with official events. She said Prime Minister Sen and his supporters use whatever means they can to silence opposition, she said. That leaves Cambodian-Americans in the United States to be able to voice their opposition here. "Those people are trying to rise, and every time they try to rise, they get beat down," Pin said. In America, she added, "they see it as their right to speak up." Follow Grant Welker on Twitter and Tout @SunGrantWelker. <http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_29698211/lowell-cambodians-plan-protest-ahead-visit-by-presidents#ixzz44MatrG00> Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_29698211/lowell-cambodians-plan-protest-ahead-visit-by-presidents#ixzz44MaqjRFx -- Best Regards, *Khmer Forum* *A place for sharing community events and public news.* -- -- 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. 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