November 15, 2021 – Page 4 – Cambodia News Gazette

A Cambodia court has ordered the confiscation and forced sale of property owned by the country’s former opposition leader to pay defamation judgements against Prime Minister Hun Sen and other government figures.
A court in the capital Phnom Penh issued four orders this month to sell off the former headquarters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), a building owned by acting party leader Sam Rainsy and his wife, Tioulong Somura.
Sam Rainsy, 72, has lived in exile in France since 2015. In March, he was sentenced in absentia to 25 years for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. The Supreme Court, viewed as beholden to Hun Sen, banned the CNRP on Nov. 15, 2017.
The money from the sale of the property in the capital’s Meanchey district will go to the government and to Hun Sen, House Speaker Heng Samrin, Interior Minister Sar Kheng, and the Cambodian government — all of whom won defamation cases against Sam Rainsy that the opposition and outside observers view as politicized rulings.
In cases against Sam Rainsy dating back to 2015, courts have awarded Hun Sen one billion riels (U.S. $243,600) and Heng Samrin 250 million riels in defamation lawsuits, while awarding Sar Kheng 2 billion riels in a lawsuit charging the former opposition leader with incitement to commit felonies.
In the final case, Sam Rainsy and Tioulong Somura were ordered to pay 1.8 billion riels to the government of Cambodia for plotting to overthrow the government during a planned but failed return to Cambodia on Nov. 9, 2019.
Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in jail and stripped of his voting rights and right to stand for election. Tioulong Somura and other CNRP senior leaders were sentenced to 20 years in jail on the same charge.
CNRP activists and political analysts said the judge’s decision to sell Sam Rainsy’s property was a sign that there was no relenting in Hun Sen’s campaign to crush the opposition, which will mark the fourth anniversary of its ban on Nov. 15.
“The court’s order is a new sign of turning down any possible talks or hope for the rehabilitation of the CNRP,” said Thailand-based political analyst Seng Sary.
Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, called the mandated sale a “politically motivated issue” that will serve intimidate other political parties and prevent them from assuming the role of the main opposition party in the next general election in 2023.
The court-ruled dissolution of the CNRP came two months after the arrest of its president Kem Sokha over an alleged plot with Washington to overthrow the government. Kem Sokha remains in legal limbo with tight restrictions on his movement and his trial stalled.
The move came amid a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the country’s political opposition, independent media, and NGOs that allowed the ruling Cambodian People’s party to win all 125 seats in parliament in a June 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union.

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Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, yesterday, announced quarantine-free travel for all fully vaccinated inbound passengers, after most of the country’s population have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The quarantine-free travel will take effect from next Monday, he said, in a special audio message released publicly.
“As almost 88 percent of our total population have received COVID-19 vaccines, so quarantine requirements are not needed anymore,” Hun Sen said.
“Both Cambodians and foreigners travelling to Cambodia, will no longer be required to go into a quarantine, but those, who have not been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine, will be required to undergo a full 14-day quarantine,” he added.
However, all inbound passengers’ samples will be taken for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, upon their arrival in the kingdom, and they can wait for the results at their own residences or the homes of their friends or relatives, he said.
“When the results show that he/she is negative for COVID-19, he/she has the right to travel to wherever he/she wants to,” he said.
The prime minister said, the fully vaccinated passengers, who are currently undergoing quarantine at various centres, will be allowed to leave their facilities beginning today.
The latest move came, after the nation administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.05 million people, or 87.8 percent of its 16-million population, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Of them, 13.2 million, or 82.5 percent, have been fully inoculated with both required shots, and 2.02 million, or 12.6 percent, have received a third dose or a booster dose, the MoH said.
Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the quarantine-free policy, saying, it would encourage investors, especially from China, to come to Cambodia.
“It’s a good opportunity to attract both foreign investors and tourists to our country, as some countries still impose travel restrictions, and I believe that, foreign tourists, who are bored during the COVID-19 era, will come to Cambodia for leisure,” he said.
“This full reopening for vaccinated inbound travellers, clearly shows the Cambodian government’s great success in its vaccinations against COVID-19, with China being the key vaccine supplier,” Heng said.
Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said, the move would give a big boost to the tourism industry, which had been hit hard by the pandemic.
She attributed Cambodia’s success in fighting against COVID-19 to “the Cambodian government’s wise leadership and China’s timely and regular supplies of vaccines.”
Meanwhile, Cambodia reported 55 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, pushing the national total caseload to 119,536, the MoH said, adding that, six new fatalities were confirmed, bringing the overall death toll to 2,867.
An additional 62 patients have recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 115,924, the MoH said.

Source: NAM News Network

Day: November 15, 2021

Cambodian court orders sale of former opposition leader’s property

Cambodian PM Announces Quarantine-Free Travel for All Fully-Vaccinated Passengers