AFP
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday ordered the arrest of an opposition senator, accusing him of treason for posting a “fake” international treaty related to the Cambodia and Vietnam border on his Facebook page.
Senator Hong Sok Hour of the Sam Rainsy Party made comments on social media that an article of the 1979 Cambodian-Vietnam Friendship Treaty was intended to dismantle the border between the two countries. He also posted two copies of the 36-year-old border agreement with neighboring Vietnam.
During a graduation speech in the capital Phnom Penh, Hun Sen accused the lawmaker of posting a fake copy of the treaty. He also ordered the national police commissioner to detain Sok Hour and the city’s international airport to block him from leaving the country.
“This is flagrant criminal evidence,” he said during the speech. “How much farther do they [the opposition party] want the country to be in turmoil?”
Following the speech, General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said police were not yet looking for Hong Sok Hour, according to local media reports.
A spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party has said that Hong Sok Hour, who also holds French citizenship, is in a safe place.
Accusation carries no weight
Attorney Sok Sam Eoun said the prime minister’s accusation does not carry any legal weight.
“He might think that when someone’s action is deemed a threat to national security and national safety, it is treason, which is not correct in my view,” he said, but noted that two documents Hong Sok Hour posted online were different.
“If Hong Sok Hour deleted or added something to the document, he will be prosecuted for producing a fake public document,” he said.
Sok Sam Eoun suggested that Hong Sok Hour may have obtained the document from elsewhere and though it to be legitimate when he posted it.
“Some documents are old and need to be reprinted, such as our constitution, so he may have believed that it is legitimate document,’ he said. “In that case, he had no intention of causing trouble.”
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), led by Sam Rainsy, contends that Vietnam has been encroaching upon Cambodian territory at various spots along the 1,228-kilometer (763-mile) border.
It also has accused the government of ceding land to Vietnam, which invaded and occupied Cambodia in 1979, by using incorrect maps to determine border demarcations.
Hong Sok Hour, who is chairman of the Senate’s anticorruption committee, has traveled to Paris to obtain maps that the opposition party believes to be correct and accurate versions of constitutionally mandated maps that should be used to determine Cambodia’s eastern border, according to The Phnom Penh Post.
Last month, a Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Border Committee held talks in which the two countries recognized that the land demarcations process was complicated and agreed to finish demarcating the border very soon.
The border issues led to clashes at the end of June between activists led by CNRP members and Vietnamese villagers as the Cambodians inspecting a road that the Vietnamese built in a disputed area of Svay Rieng province.
Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sarada Taing. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
While I was driving a car from work, I was listening to RFA and I couldn't believe to hear Mr. Pai Siphan used Mr. Sam Rainsy's wife as an example comparing to what Mr. Sam Rainsy said something to Mr. Hun Sen. Mr. Siphan!!! You are working in a good position that representing the government, but when you said that, you made yourself so low like dirt. You should go back and listen to what you were saying again. I am just a regular person who work everyday just to have food on the table for my kids. I have no title, but you can't compare to me after you said that. You are making the CPP officials to lose face. Not only that, you are making the value of the women low, too. How could Mr. Hun Sen have you on board to work for government? Wonder why most people don't like your mouth. I really don't want to react to that, but you re really crossing the line that made me and other people couldn't stand with your deadly mouth. Now, go back to your office, close the door, look at yourself in the mirror and say that to yourself. Then, listen how do you feel? Unless something wrong with your mind then you don't feel a thing.
Aug 19, 2015 04:13 PM
Mr. Prime Minister (Hun Sen)!!! I believe your mind is not calm and you're clouding up yourself, trapping evil which leaving you distant from the one you love, the country you rooted in, and the people who used to trust in you as a leader. You don't need this mighty power to defend your legacy to live on. The power of evil is only not last permanently, but the pure power of good and kindness is live on eternity which exist when you are doing good to the people who are crying for your help and when you are truly want to protect the land from predator country. This power is clean and can dignify you as a hero of this century. Power of want that you don't need, just let it goes because it is only looks good when you have life to live. Nothing is permanent, but when you are doing something big for the country, the people, and give up this power that you are compulsively loving, god will see the reflection of your change and kindness. Then, this good power will live on through out history and every generation to come, people will teach their kids to remember you. One life to live, you must leave something respectful with dignity for people to remember you.
Aug 18, 2015 11:48 PM
Let the slaughtering of innocent Khmer Patriots season begin! This blood thirst dictator will never change. He thirst for more innocent Khmer's blood. Remember Khmer people freedom is NOT FREE! You have to fight for it.
Aug 18, 2015 07:11 PM
