Exiled Prince Seeks Entry, Pardon

Hun Sen (R) and Ranariddh (L) when they were both on good term in the coalition government.

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer Phnom Penh

12 February 2008
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Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who is running his own political party from exile in Malaysia, is trying to find a way back to Cambodia.
Prince Ranariddh faces an 18 month prison sentence on charges related to embezzlement if he returns to Cambodia, but he told VOA Khmer recently he will seek a pardon from his brother, King Norodom Sihamoni, who has been the monarch since 2004.
“I have no other choice,” Prince Ranariddh said. “I know that my case is a political case.”
The prince said he had appealed through the legal system and lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court, but if the courts uphold his18-month sentence and $150,00 fine, he will ask the king for a constitutional pardon.
Prime Minister Hun Sen alluded to the prince on Monday, saying at a ceremony in Kampong Thom that “some people…made the party broken and discredited, and now want to come back to the country.”
“Hun Sen does not know about this and cannot help,” the prime minister said.