More on Sam Raingsy

Defamation Lawsuit Already Settled in France, Rainsy Says

Khmer Times/May Titthara

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

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After postponing his return to Cambodia on Monday for a “few days” over an arrest warrant against for him for allegedly defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in 2008, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said yesterday that Mr. Namhong had already lost his defamation lawsuit against him at the French Supreme Court in Paris.

Mr. Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, made the comment in an edit to a November 16 post on his Facebook page. 

He wrote that on April 27, 2011 Mr. Namhong had lost the drawn-out defamation lawsuit against him in France.

Mr. Rainsy added that Mr. Namhong “won his case – concerning the same allegation I made that he was a Khmer Rouge collaborator at Boeng Trabek jail in the late 1970s – only in 2013 before the politically subservient Cambodian Court.”

On Monday, Mr. Rainsy announced just six hours before his scheduled landing at Phnom Penh International Airport that he was delaying “for a few days” his return to the Kingdom. He said the decision was made after consulting with CNRP members in Cambodia and a number of international pro-democracy organizations. 

Earlier that day, Mr. Rainsy was stripped of his seat in the National Assembly, as well as the parliamentary immunity that came with it.

The warrant, issued last Friday, stems from a 2008 complaint from Foreign Minister Hor Namhong accusing Mr. Rainsy of defamation for his Khmer Rouge-collaborator comments made during a memorial service at the Choeung Ek Genocide Center. 

Mr. Rainsy alleged that Mr. Namhong oversaw the Boeung Trabek prison under the Khmer Rouge. In 2011, Mr. Rainsy was convicted in absentia on the charges, sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. 

In 2013, Mr. Rainsy was granted a Royal Pardon by King Sihamoni to allow him to return for the national election that year.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council  of Ministers, said yesterday that Mr. Rainsy can run but he cannot avoid serving a sentence. Mr. Siphan made the comment despite the fact that Mr. Rainsy has yet to be convicted of what many have dismissed as a politically motivated charge.

It is just a matter of time to determine the penalty, Mr. Siphan added. He also said that the warrant to arrest Mr. Rainsy from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor demonstrates the success of judicial reform in Cambodia because it shows that the law applies to everyone. 

Ny Chakrya, head of monitoring at rights group ADHOC, said the case against Mr. Rainsy was dubious. Mr. Rainsy lost a court battle with Mr. Namhong at a lower court and was ordered to pay one euro, but when Mr. Mr. Rainsy won at France’s Supreme Court both parties accepted the verdict. “The case should not go to a hearing at Cambodia’s courts because it has already been resolved in France,” Mr. Chakrya said.

“The issuing of this warrant is a clear violation of the principle of judicial independence and the separation of powers,” a statement from 19 civil society groups, including ADHOC, said on Monday.

Mr. Rainsy also said yesterday that he will return to Cambodia tomorrow.