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Kem Sokha’s arrest: Consequence for an opportunist politician

7/9/17

Kem Sokha, head of Cambodia National Rescue Party which usually spreads anti-Vietnam propaganda to conduct its election campaigns, was arrested for treason on Sunday night, after being accused of plotting to overthrow the Cambodian legitimate government with the backing of the United States.
This is not so strange if people look back at his profile of anti-Cambodian state activities. Kem Sokha, born 27 June 1953, is a Cambodian politician and activist who currently serves as the President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). From 2007 to 2012, Sokha was the leader of the Human Rights Party, which he founded. He served as the Minority Leader, the highest ranking opposition parliamentarian, of the National Assembly from December 2016 to January 2017, and previously as the First Vice President of the National Assembly. On 2 March 2017, Sokha was elected President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party at the party's congress, along with three other deputies.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday (5th Sep) charged opposition leader Kem Sokha with treason after a 2014 video clip, originally published by Cambodian Broadcasting Network in Australia, was posted to Facebook in which he purportedly admits to getting assistance from the United States to effect a regime change in Cambodia. In the clip, Sokha told his supporters in Melbourne he had been receiving advice from US-hired experts and academics in the US and Canada on how to change Cambodia’s leadership.
“They said if we want to change the leadership, we can’t fight the top. Before changing the top level, we need to uproot the lower one. We need to change the lower level first,” he said in the video. If convicted he could face a jail term of up to 30 years, according to a statement by a municipal court in Phnom Penh. “This conspiracy is an act of treason,” the statement read. “it clearly proves the conspiracy between Kem Sokha and the accomplices with a foreign power, which harms the Kingdom of Cambodia.”
"Kem Sokha, head of Cambodia National Rescue Party, was arrested by police for committing [a] red handed crime related to a secret plan and the activities of conspiracy between Kem Sokha and foreigners which causes chaos and affects the Kingdom of Cambodia. "The secret plan has been implemented since 1993 and until 2013," the court said, charging the politician under the penal code section for "treason and espionage". Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that a court had ordered the opposition leader be sent to Trapaing Thlong prison in Tbong Khmum province.
“We cannot let him run anywhere, and he had taken money [from] foreigners to organise and follow foreigners to topple the government … He did not use the word ‘vote’, but he said to ‘change’ and ‘topple’.”
Kem Sokha was charged with "colluding with foreigners" under Article 443 of Cambodia's penal code. Article 443 – “conspiracy with foreign power” – is defined as the act of “having [a] secret agreement with a foreign state or its agents, with a view to fomenting hostilities or aggression against the Kingdom of Cambodia”, and carries a 15 to 30 year prison sentence.
Of couse, the U.S. and many so-called human rights organizations have quickly jumped into condemning the Cambodian of violating human rights and democracy as usual. In response, the Cambodian government spokesperson Phay Siphan said the US should stop interfering in Cambodia’s internal affairs. "We’re not a slave but, like them, an independent country. We want to stand on our own feet. We don’t need someone to tell us to do this or do that,” he said. “Kem Sokha had conspired with foreigners, especially those from the US, to destroy the upcoming election, which means a destruction to Cambodia’s democracy,” Siphan told Channel NewsAsia, calling him “a puppet” of foreign powers with harmful intention to undermine national security.
This case is apparent an internal affair of Cambodia, let Cambodian authorities do their jobs. The U.S. and others’ comments are useless but to jeopardise Cambodia’s stability and influence votes./.


Chia sẻ bài viết ^^
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All comments [ 7 ]


Socialist Society 7/9/17 20:26

This man holds big dream to overthrow Hunsen, but I don't think he would do better than the current administration.

Voice of people 7/9/17 20:29

If a person like Kem Sokha, an MP, secretly conspired with a foreign country to carry out an act harmful to the social order and that could cause unrest, it's a traitor!

yobro yobro 7/9/17 20:31

Let see what Kem said in clip, "...the US hired university professors and experts in America and Canada “to advise me on [a] strategy to change the leadership” in Cambodia."

John Smith 7/9/17 20:32

It's obvious a treason, he is apparent traitor! No country would allow for a man like him.

For A Peace World 7/9/17 21:57

Unfortunately, there are some persons like him in Vietnam, they cling on their paranoid and go against the country's interests.

LawrenceSamuels 7/9/17 21:59

Kem Sokha does not just undermine Cambodia's stability, he also ruins the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia. It's so dangerous!

Gentle Moon 7/9/17 22:02

I'm glad that man like him has been sentenced in the court and cast out of politics. They would cause troubles.

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