(Photo: CEN) |
The United States said on Tuesday that they wanted to see
the participation of the self-exiled opposition party's leader Sam
Rainsy and radio station owner Mam Sonando in the July's general
election.
Speaking during a one-hour meeting with Cambodian deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, visiting US Assistant Secretary of
State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael Posner, said the
US wanted to see the participation of the main opposition party's
leader Sam Rainsy and the radio station owner Mam Sonando in the
forthcoming election, Ouch Borith, Secretary of State at Cambodia's Foreign Ministry, told reporters after the meeting.
"The
US thinks that in order to make better in democratic process and human
rights respect in Cambodia, there should be the return of Sam Rainsy and
the participation of Mam Sonando in the upcoming election,"
Posner was quoted by Ouch Borith as saying to Hor Namhong. "The US
government and congressmen see the convictions of Sam Rainsy and Mam
Sonando as politically-motivated cases."
In response, Hor Namhong said neither Sam Rainsy nor Mam Sonando were convicted by the court of working for democracy or human rights respect, but the two individuals were convicted of criminal offenses. (sic!)
He explained that Sam Rainsy was sentenced by Cambodian court ( to 11
years in jail) in absentia for removing Cambodia-Vietnam border poles
and publishing a false map of the border with Vietnam in order to accuse
Cambodian government of selling land to Vietnam.
For the case of Mam Sonando, the minister said that a radio broadcaster
was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the mastermind of the
secessionist movement, as some key witnesses had testified against him
before the court and the court had convicted him based on evidence.
"Foreign community always urges the government of Cambodia not to
interfere into the court's independence, now the US demands us to pardon
Sam Rainsy and release Mam Sonando, it means that the US is urging Cambodia to violate its law and to interfere into the court's independence," Hor Namhong said.
"The convictions had been made by the court's jurisdiction, not the
government's jurisdiction. As state of law, Cambodia continues to
strengthen the rule of law; no one can stay above the law, so Cambodia
will not release them," he said. "They are prisoners. If we release them
upon the request, it will cause anarchy in Cambodia."
In November, while attending a series of the Summits of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh, US President Barack
Obama also expressed the need for Cambodia to release political
prisoners during a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun
Sen at the Peace Palace.
Obama highlighted, for instance, one case of a radio broadcaster Mam Sonando who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
However, Hun Sen said at that time that "in
Cambodia, there is no political prisoner, but politicians abused the
law, so they must be punished in accordance with the law."
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