Man denies penning leaflets

FRIDAY, 21 AUGUST 2009 15:04 MEAS SOKCHEA

Claims he has gone into hiding for fear that authorities will try to arrest him.

A man whose name appeared on hundreds of leaflets accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of corruption has been forced into hiding for fear of government reprisals.

The leaflets, penned by an anonymous author and posted around the streets of the capital in the early hours of Wednesday morning, condemned the premier as an "absolute leader" and "puppet of Vietnam".

Bearing a small picture of the prime minister, they accused him of destroying the Khmer regime's once-great reputation and "selling the nation".

Scribbled in Khmer handwriting at the top of the papers were five names: Pan Sovanny, Sreng Vuthy, Chea Socheap, Chim Thoeun and Kem Sopheak. Although nothing is yet known of the identity of the first four, Kem Sopheak - who claimed to be a Sam Rainsy Party activist, on Thursday contacted the Post by phone to deny any involvement.

"I'm scared for my safety", Kem Sopheak said. "I don't know what to think. I have nothing to do with these leaflets. I didn't even know about them until my nephew saw one with my name on it at Wat Phnom and contacted me straight away."

Sopheak said he had been an SRP activist since 1996. On hearing of

their intervention, but was told by SRP headquarters that the party had no record of his membership and would have to hand him over to the United Nations.

SRP lawmaker and spokesman Yim Sovann confirmed the party had been approached by Kem Sopheak, but was unable to confirm his involvement with the opposition party.

Yim Sovann insisted, however, that the party would do everything in its power to help Kem Sopheak.

"We asked to see his party card, but he couldn't produce it", Sovann said.

"We don't know where he lives, so we cannot confirm whether he is a member of our party. However, we do not discriminate. He is Khmer, and if he was threatened in any way, we would take pity on him and help him. To that end, we have taken him to a human rights organisation."

Christophe Peschoux, head of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Cambodia, confirmed Thursday that the organisation had spoken with Kem Sopheak.

"We interviewed him already, and now we're looking into the story to establish what's going on," Peschoux said. "At this stage, it seems very murky."

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I don't know why anyone would put my name on that leaflet.

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Kem Sopheak told the Post he was in hiding and was afraid of having legal action taken against him.

"I can't tell anyone where I'm staying because I'm scared the government will arrest me", he said.

"I don't know why anyone would put my name on that leaflet. It couldn't have been me: I can only read a little bit and cannot write at all."

Posted in various public places in Phnom Penh before being torn down by police, the leaflets called on the people of Cambodia to oppose Hun
Sen's "puppet regime". "I remember the time when Khmer glory was well-known all over the world," one leaflet seen by the Post reads.

"We were feared and admired for our civilisation, culture and fine arts, but all that has now disappeared because of the absolute regime of the present government."

The government Thursday insisted Kem Sopheak had nothing to fear.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said the names on the leaflets were of no interest to officials, but that their creators were.

Three separate departments are now investigating, he said: the police, the espionage unit and the anti-terrorism squad.

Neither Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Touch Naruth, who is heading the police investigation, nor Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak could be reached for comment on Thursday.

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Source: The Phnom Penh Post

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009082127914/National-news/man-denies-penning-leaflets.html

Leaflets knock prime minister

THURSDAY, 20 AUGUST 2009

HUNDREDS of anonymous anti-government leaflets condemning Prime Minister Hun Sen as an "absolute leader" and a "puppet of Vietnam" appeared around the streets of Phnom Penh in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The leaflets, bearing a small picture of the premier, warned Cambodian citizens that their present leader was single-handedly responsible for reducing the once-great Khmer nation to ruins.

Partly handwritten and partly typed in Khmer, they accuse the prime minister of "selling the nation" and called on the people of Cambodia to oppose Hun Sen's "puppet regime".

"I am so proud that I was born Khmer," reads one, a copy of which has been obtained by the Post. "The Khmer race built Angkor. I remember the time when Khmer glory was well-known all over the world. We were feared and admired for our civilisation, culture and fine arts, but all that has now disappeared because of the absolute regime of the present government."

The leaflets were printed on A4 paper and appeared in prominent public places across the city - including Wat Phnom - before sunrise, but were swiftly taken down by police, witnesses said.

The government played down the leaflets' significance on Wednesday, insisting that Cambodians would not be swayed by acts of political subversion, and that the real test of their loyalty would be the ballot box.

"This is not the first time such a thing has happened," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said. "This has happened many times before, but the result is always the same at the elections."

Police confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating the incident, but said the allegations made in the leaflets were "out of date" and failed to take into account the government's current rate of development.

Kirt Chantharith, chief of general staff and spokesman for the commissioner general of the National Police, said: "[They] should not use words like this to insult the leader, but the leaflet is out of date. This game is very old and hasn't worked. National development has been thinking ahead."

Phnom Penh police Chief Touch Naruth echoed the sentiments. "Some people had burned it already because it is saying the same old thing, but they know the true situation," he said.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, was critical of the language used in the leaflets, warning that the use of such openly inflammatory rhetoric could be counterproductive.

"Insulting someone is not necessarily freedom of expression," he said. "Writers should have clear morals and avoid insulting the government."

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Source: The Phnom Penh Post http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009082027881/National-news/leaflets-knock-prime-minister.html

Convicted Thaksin holds Montenegro passport

By The Nation

Mon, April 27, 2009 : Last updated 14:04 hour

His passport number is I38kd3695, the source said.

According to his Montenegro passport, Thaksin who has been running away from a two-year jail term in Thailand, arrived in Monrovia, capital of Liberia on April 20 and departed it on April 23.

Earlier reports confirmed that he is also holding a Nicaraguan passport as he is appointed as "special ambassador" by Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega.

Thai government has revoked all his passports, including diplomatic and ordinary passports, after he became fugitive.

 

Runaway ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra used his Montenegro passport to travel to Liberia last week, a source said.

 

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From The Nation: http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/27/politics/politics_30101407.php

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Thaksin "red shirts" gather again in Bangkok

Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:41pm BST

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* 12-day state of emergency lifted on Friday

* Protesters want government to quit


(Recasts with protest)

By Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK, April 25 (Reuters) - About 3,000 supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gathered in Bangkok on Saturday for their first rally in the capital since violent street clashes two weeks ago.

Security was tight with 450 police monitoring the crowd of red-shirted protesters at Sanam Luang, a public square near Bangkok's Grand Palace.

"The protest is going well so far. No violence," Police Major General Suporn Pansuea told Reuters.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ended a 12-day state of emergency in the capital on Friday, saying he wanted to foster reconciliation after the street clashes which killed two people and dented investor confidence.

"Lifting emergency rule doesn't mean the government will give up monitoring the situation," Abhisit told reporters on Saturday.

A leader of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said the rally would be peaceful and end around midnight.

"Our request is the same. We want the Prime Minister to quit," Somyos Prueksakasemsuk said.

The UDD plan more rallies in the provinces before returning to Bangkok for a large demonstration in May, he said.

Abhisit, who was elected in a December parliamentary vote with the help of former Thaksin allies, has refused to call an election analysts say his Democrat party would likely lose.

Instead, he has promised constitutional reforms as a way out of the political crisis, but there are doubts it will be enough to heal the deep political rifts in Thai society.

The crisis is a battle between the "yellow shirts" -- royalists, the military and urban, middle-class Thais who back Abhisit -- and the "red shirt" supporters of Thaksin, whose power base is mainly drawn from millions of rural and urban poor who loved his populist policies.



BOTCHED ASSASSINATION

The street violence two weeks ago was the worst Thailand had seen in 16 years, forcing the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders. The volatile situation was compounded by an attempted assassination of "yellow shirt" leader Sondhi Limthongkul.

Thai media reported on Saturday police want to question five soldiers over a possible connection to the attack on Sondhi.

A senior police official denied the reports, which followed last week's confirmation by Thailand's army chief that some of the bullets used in the April 17 attack were from the military.

Sondhi, who was wounded in the head after gunmen riddled his car with automatic rifle fire, did not speak to reporters as he left hospital on Saturday.

Army chief Anupong Paochinda has denied speculation by Sondhi's colleagues that military personnel may have been involved in the assassination attempt.

Bangkok's deputy police chief, Major General Pongsan Jaimon, rejected the reports that police were looking for five soldiers.

"How do you know this when I don't know?," he asked reporters. "We have to suspect all related people, including influential people, soldiers or whoever".

Sondhi is a co-founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which led a street campaign against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before he was ousted in a 2006 coup. The PAD occupied Bangkok's airports last year to protest a pro-Thaksin government that was later dissolved by the courts. (Additional reporting by Arada Therdthammakun and Sinthana Kosopradit; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Matthew Jones)

 

 

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Article from REUTERS UK: http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKLP235029

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Opposition MP to sue Hun Sen for defamation

Updated April 24, 2009 12:52:53

In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to be sued for defamation by one of the Kingdom's leading female opposition politicians.

Mu Suchua wants little more than an apology but the move to challenge Cambodia's "Strong Man" in the courts is seen as unprecedented.

Presenter: Robert Carmichael 
Speaker: Mu Suchua, Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian

 ·                                 Listen:

 ·                                 Windows Media

CARMICHAEL: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen is not a man to be taken lightly. He takes pride in his reputation as a strong man, and is regarded here with a mixture of fear and respect. He has also reportedly never been sued.

But that could soon change. Unless Hun Sen retracts recent comments, a female opposition MP will begin a court action against him before the end of April. Mu Sochua is a senior MP in the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, or SRP, the largest opposition party. Before she joined the SRP she was the minister for women's affairs in the coalition government.

The SRP is a constant thorn in the prime minister's side, regularly criticizing him and his ruling Cambodian People's Party for not cracking down on corruption and abuses of the law. The comments made by the prime minister and broadcast nationally didn't use Mu Sochua's name directly, but she says she was clearly the target. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith says the prime minister is not concerned about the case, and says Mu Sochua is simply presenting herself as a victim and trying to discredit Hun Sen. Khieu Kanharith says the MP is simply trying to get noticed by the media, and stresses that Hun Sen did not actually name anyone in his speech. But, he adds, if Mu Sochua feels she has been insulted, she is entitled to seek remedy through the courts.

So what actually happened? Referring to a land grab case in the southern province of Kampot - which Mu Sochua represents - Hun Sen said that those villagers who wanted their case resolved by him ought not to go to 'the opposition female MP'. Five villagers were injured when the army threw them off their land and burned down their homes - another reminder of the ongoing problem of impunity and land rights in Cambodia.

During his speech, says Mu Sochua, Hun Sen referred to her as 'cheung chat' - a derogatory term that she says conveys the meaning of a hustler, somewhere between a gangster and a prostitute. 

That, she claims, was in response to an event during last year's general election when she was campaigning for the SRP and was allegedly assaulted by an army general, losing buttons off her shirt. She sued the general, and that case is now headed for the Appeal Court.

Mu Sochua says that the prime minister ought not to have said anything that could influence the judges in that case. Her chances of getting justice now, she says, are ruined.

Which is why MPs from the two opposition parties sent a letter to the president of parliament demanding that Hun Sen either provide proof for his words or retract his statements.

Mu Sochua admits that a retraction and apology are unlikely. So next week her lawyer will file the case in the municipal court in Phnom Penh. 

So why is she taking on the prime minister?

MU SOCHUA: This is the first time, and I do this on behalf of Cambodian women. I do it on behalf of women in general, because women who are raped, who are assaulted - verbally, sexually, physically and so on - who don't have a voice, cry in silence, are ruined inside. This is a symbolic case and also an unprecedented case.

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: Mu Sochua says she is concerned that her move could prove dangerous. To offset the perceived dangers she has lined up some influential friends. Her office features a photograph of her with US secretary of state for foreign affairs, Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

Mrs Clinton is also linked with US organisations that have pledged Mu Sochua their support in this matter, as are a number of other US politicians and celebrities. 

MU SOCHUA: It is dangerous - if you consider all the killings that have taken place of people who are strong activists, who are human rights activists, and members of the opposition. 

ROBERT CARMICHAEL: So what does she want out of the case? Simply an apology and 500 riel in damages - a symbolic sum of around fifteen Australian cents.

Mu Sochua admits it is unlikely that she will win her case, but says if she does she will frame the red 500 riel banknote and hang it in her office in honour of women around the world who are exploited.

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The article can be found at the following link:

 http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/200904/s2551808.htm

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Opposition candidate freed on bail in Cambodia

A Cambodian newspaper editor and opposition candidate has been freed on bail after an outcry from human rights activists.

Dam Sith, a candidate for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was charged last week with defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in an article about the Khmer Rouge, the regime blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.

Amnesty International says Dam Sith's arrest demonstrates how the criminal justice system "is used and abused" to silence critics of the government in the runup to the July 27 general election.

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