Trying to stop ‘the wind of freedom’ from reaching Cambodia
WP
By Editorial Board November 17
The lesson of what happened in Burma is that people do not forget when their aspirations are crushed. Hun Sen may not have liked what Sam Rainsy had to say about democracy, but the words were entirely appropriate and the speaker must not be silenced.
THE
VICTORY of Aung San Suu Kyi’s movement in Burma after years of military
rule and repression is already starting to unnerve autocrats nearby.
Last week, Sam Rainsy, an opposition leader in Cambodia, declared that
the democrats’ “resounding” victory “has created panic among the last
surviving dictators in our part of the world. But the wind of freedom
that is blowing through throughout the world will also reach Cambodia in
the very near future.”
This
bit of rhetoric might have dissipated rapidly if it were not for the
reaction of strongman Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for three decades
and took to Facebook to denounce what he called an “insult” from Sam
Rainsy, who leads the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.
This is a moment of truth for Hun Sen, who seems eager for international respect even as he crudely suppresses dissent at home.
Hun
Sen didn’t stop there. On Friday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued
an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy on a long-dormant conviction for
defamation of the foreign minister, Hor Namhong, a leader of the ruling
Cambodian People’s Party. The arrest warrant was clearly a politically
motivated counter-strike. Sam Rainsy had charged in 2008 that the
minister had run a prison for the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, which the
minister denied. A two-year sentence for defamation was upheld by an
appeals court in 2013 but never enforced. Suddenly, the matter was
urgent and required an arrest warrant. After that, on Monday, parliament
revoked Sam Rainsy’s position as an elected member and stripped him of
parliamentary immunity. At about the same time, the regime announced the
creation of a special committee to enforce the arrest warrant —
portending a showdown.
Sam
Rainsy was visiting Japan and South Korea when the latest storm blew
up. After years of self-imposed exile outside of Cambodia, he was
granted a royal pardon in 2013 to remove the threat of a jail term on
other charges that his supporters said were also politically motivated.
He returned to Cambodia, and for a while a reconciliation appeared to be
underway, but now it seems to have collapsed. Sam Rainsy declared after
hearing about the arrest warrant, “I absolutely must go back and go to
rescue our nation.” He added, “If I must die, let it be.” But then he
was urged by pro-democracy groups not to return immediately and said he
would come back “in the next few days.”
This
is a moment of truth for Hun Sen, who seems eager for international
respect even as he crudely suppresses dissent at home. The arrest
warrant for Sam Rainsy is just the latest example of Hun Sen’s use of
the judicial system to persecute opponents. Nineteen civil society
organizations denounced the warrant and lifting of parliamentary
immunity as “a major threat to democracy and fundamental freedoms” in
Cambodia. They are right. The arrest warrant should be dropped and Sam
Rainsy’s seat and rights in Parliament restored. The lesson of what
happened in Burma is that people do not forget when their aspirations
are crushed. Hun Sen may not have liked what Sam Rainsy had to say about
democracy, but the words were entirely appropriate and the speaker must
not be silenced.
2 comments:
Learn Ah Yuon's tricks from history:
Son Kuy was so popular.
Ah Chor Yuon wanted to catch Son Kuy. Ah Yuon killed so many Khmer innocent people to make Son Kuy surrender.
Then Ah Yuon killed Son Kuy.
Did Khmer Krom people get Kampuchea Krom back from Yuon after Son Kuy's death??
Now, the same thing happens.
Sam Rainsy is popular.
Ah Yuon wanted to kill Sam Rainsy.
Ah Yuon ordered Ah Chos Kauot Hun Sen to imprison Sam Rainsy so that Ah Yuon can poison and kill Sam Rainsy.
That's why Sam Rainsy must NOT go into Ah evil Yuon's trap.
DO NOT GO TO CAMBODIA AT THIS TIME.
Bun Thoeun
Ah Dombol Yor Hun Sen keeps suppressing Khmer for Yuon so that he can stay in power.
I think everybody get so mad with Ah Sen. Sooner or later, Khmer people's explosion will crush Ah Hun Sen's head.
Kheung Neung Ah Sen Dol Kor Heuy !!!!!
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