Category: Key Issues

Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen this evening encouraged his compatriots to join hands in preserving the ancestral heritage.
Speaking at a get-together with some 4,000 artistes, actors and actresses on the 25th National Cultural Day (Mar. 3) at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that our Cambodian society is now more civilised, but we should not abandon our ancient heritage.
At the same event, Samdech Techo Prime Minister appealed to all pagodas across the country to help preserve two Khmer traditional music – Pin Peat and Chhai Yam.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

After a five-year wait, Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is expected to learn his legal fate on Friday when the Phnom Penh Municipal Court announces its verdict in his treason case.
The unsubstantiated charges against Kem Sokha followed his arrest in September 2017 when more than 100 armed police officers stormed his home in Phnom Penh. Several months earlier, his Cambodia National Rescue Party – the main opposition party at the time – had made significant gains in local commune elections.
The treason charges against him have always been denied by Kem Sokha and have been derided by the international community.
“It’s ridiculous that Kem Sokha has lost five years of his freedom and that Cambodian voters have not been able to consider him for elections,” said Brad Adams, former Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. “All because of a faked case. They found an old video of him calling for democracy in Cambodia and decided to make that a crime.”
Kem Sokha, 69, was put on trial beginning in January 2020 but the hearings were suspended two months later on the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic. The trial resumed last year. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Meng Sopheary, Kem Sokha’s lawyer, said her client will attend Friday’s court hearing.
“We cannot say whether the court judgment will turn out to be positive or negative,” she said. “But we have raised a lot of legal arguments that have shown the prosecution does not have enough evidence to convict my client.”
Prison, then house arrest
The evidence presented included a video recorded in 2013 in which he discusses a strategy to win power with the help of U.S. experts. The United States Embassy has rejected any suggestion that Washington is interfering in Cambodian politics.
After his 2017 arrest, Kem Sokha was sent to Trapeang Phlong Prison in Tbong Khmum province, near the border with Vietnam. He was transferred to his house arrest in Phnom Penh in October 2018. More than a year later, the court eased some of the restrictions against him by allowing to travel inside the country but still banned from participating in politics.
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved and outlawed the CNRP following Kem Sokha’s arrest. That paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to take every seat in the National Assembly in the 2018 general election.
The ban on the CNRP also kicked off a five-year crackdown on political opposition, with many of those affiliated with the party arrested and detained on charges like conspiracy, incitement and treason.
‘A complex knot’
The case is obviously politically influenced and shows just how much Hun Sen has interfered with Cambodia’s judiciary, political activist Lao Mong Hay said.
“The due process was breached. The court kept delaying his trial week by week. The procedure of arrest, imprisonment and bail and house arrest were all wrong,” he said. “The prime minister said that Sokha’s case will be tried by 2023 or 2024. This clearly shows that politicians interfered in the affairs of the court. ”
Another irregularity was the fact that the court never summoned any foreigners to testify, even though Kem Sokha is accused of conspiring with a foreign government, Lao Mong Hay said.
Hun Sen does indeed control the courts, and the prime minister would be making a mistake by allowing Kem Sokha to be found guilty of treason, exiled political analyst Kim Sok said. This is a time for resolving problems, not making them worse, he said.
“The fact that he accused Kem Sokha of colluding with the U.S. and other foreigners is already a complex knot. If he doesn’t take this opportunity to untie the knot, the problem will be greater,” he said. “The ongoing issue will spill over to Hun Manet’s burden in the future.”
Hun Sen has said he expects to remain in power until 2028, when he plans for his son, Hun Manet, to take over.
It is more likely that Kem Sokha will be found guilty, political analyst Em Sovannara said. That would ensure that the CPP dominates the July general elections.
“The appeal process would take time, at least until the 2023 election is over. That means Kem Sokha would not be able to join the election,” he said. “Then the new National Assembly will be without CNRP or Kem Sokha.”

Copyright © 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has been found guilty of treason five years after his arrest in Phnom Penh.
A judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced him to 27 years imprisonment on charges that carried a maximum 30-year term, according to Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho), who monitored the verdict.
The court said he had colluded with a foreign power from 2010 until his arrest, the AP news agency reported. It said he had one month to file an appeal against its ruling.
Kem Sokha’s lawyer told RFA he plans to appeal the judgement.
Kem Sokha was arrested and placed under house arrest after the announcement. The court also stripped him of the right to vote or run as a candidate for an indefinite period.
Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association said he was not surprised with the outcome.
“This is a serious verdict,” he said. “The verdict will affect younger politicians, they will have a difficult time competing in Cambodia’s political environment. I am concerned about human rights and democracy in Cambodia.”
Five-year wait
Kem Sokha has always denied the charges which led to his arrest in September 2017, when more than 100 armed police officers stormed his home.
Several months earlier his Cambodia National Rescue Party had made large gains in local commune elections.
The 69-year-old was put on trial in January 2020 but the hearings were suspended two months later on the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic. The trial resumed last year.
The charges against him relate partly to a video recorded in 2013 in which he discusses a strategy to win power with the help of U.S. experts. The United States Embassy has rejected any suggestion that Washington was trying to interfere in Cambodian politics.
Kem Sokha spent a year in Trapeang Phlong Prison near the border with Vietnam. He was transferred to house arrest in Phnom Penh in October 2018. More than a year later, the court eased some of the restrictions by allowing him to travel inside the country but still banning him from participating in politics.
The ban proved superfluous. Shortly after his arrest Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved and outlawed the CNRP, paving the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to take all 125 National Assembly seats in the 2018 general election.
Humble beginnings
Kem Sokha was born in Takeo province south of Phnom Penh, the son of farmers and grandson of a commune chief.
He was 22 and studying law when the Khmer Rouge arrived in Phnom Penh and forced him to return to his hometown where he discovered they had killed his father, he said in an interview for the book “Seeking Justice in Cambodia: Human Rights Defenders Speak Out,” by Australian researcher Sue Coffey.
Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge he studied chemistry in Prague before returning to work in the Ministry of Industry. After being forced out of the job he took up teaching, worked as a winemaker and then founded a human rights group.
He began his political career in 1993, serving as a National Assembly representative for the now-disbanded Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party.
In 1999, he joined FUNCINPEC and served as a senator until 2001.
In 2005, Kem Sokha founded the Human Rights Party which came third in general elections three years later, prompting him to join forces with Sam Rainsy’s eponymously-named party.
Their new Cambodia National Rescue Party was the only challenger to Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party and won 45% of the seats in the 2013 general election.
Two years later, Sam Rainsy fled to France, where has been living in self-exile ever since, following a series of charges his supporters say are politically motivated.
Silencing the opposition
Kem Sokha was hoping a not-guilty verdict would clear the way for a return to politics. His daughter told the AFP news agency he was keen to return to the fray ahead of July’s general elections.
With four months to go he has become the latest threat to be silenced by Hun Sen.
“It was obvious from the start that the charges against Kem Sokha were nothing but a politically motivated ploy by Prime Minister Hun Sen to sideline Cambodia’s major opposition leader and eliminate the country’s democratic system,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement released immediately after the verdict.
“Sending Kem Sokha to prison isn’t just about destroying his political party, but about squashing any hope that there can be a genuine general election in July.”
Last month Cambodia’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Candlelight Party Vice President Son Chhay, who has been ordered to pay U.S.$1 million in damages to the CPP and the National Election Commission after saying last year’s local commune elections were marred by irregularities.
Also in February Hun Sen shut down Cambodia’s last fully-independent news outlet after Voice of Democracy published a story about his son and political heir Hun Manet. A clever tactician, he then said VoD staff could apply for government jobs without having to sit the entrance examination. On Tuesday the government announced that at least 25 former staffers had applied.

Copyright © 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has recommended the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to work with its neingbouring counterparts for a joint registration of their martial arts on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.
The Cambodian Premier made the recommendation following the ongoing controversial conflict over the original ownership of Kun Khmer, Cambodian traditional martial art, or Muay Thai in Thailand.
“No need to get into conflict over the ownership,” said Samdech Techo Hun Sen, adding that when Cambodia hosts a competition, the sport is called Kun Khmer, likewise it is called Muay Thai or Muay Lao when there is a match in Thailand or Laos, respectively.
The Cambodian Prime Minister said he had raised the issue with his Thai and Lao counterparts during their recent meetings.
Recently, Thailand has decided to boycott the Kum Khmer events in the upcoming SEA Games in Cambodia on ground when the latter has dropped Muay Thai to use its own version of Kun Khmer.
The same case is for Sankranta (New Year celebration), he stressed, explaining that Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand can apply for a joint registration at UNESCO even though they celebrate it separately.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has encouraged the creation of new and creative works of art with a focus on national image and identity.
At a get-together with some 4,000 artistes, actors and actresses on the 25th National Cultural Day (Mar. 3) at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Samdech Techo Hun Sen advised that the new works of art must be in accordance with the legal norms, professional ethics and global standards to increase productivity and potential to compete with those in the region and the world.
The Premier also gave a number of recommendations to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and all stakeholders to pay attention to promote the development of the national cultural sector.
Besides, Samdech Techo Prime Minister urged the formation of human capital in the field of culture and the mastership on cultural preservation and enhancement.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse