Cambodian found guilty of instigating failed coup

ABC Radio
Australia

The leader of a United States-based Cambodian resistance movement has been found guilty by a US jury of instigating a failed coup attempt in Cambodia in 2000.

Chhun Yasith, 52 (pictured), could be jailed for life after being found guilty on a number of charges over the "Operation Volcano" plot in November 2000.

According to Cambodian media reports at the time, a heavily armed group attacked a police station and several government buildings in Phnom Penh in the early hours of 24 November 2000, killing at least four people and wounding more than a dozen others. Responsibility for the shoot-out was claimed by the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, of which Chhun Yasith was the self-styled president.

He was arrested in June 2005 in the United States. US prosecutors say he orchestrated the attack from a safe base in Thailand.

More than 100 people have been jailed over the attempted coup, which left Prime Minister Hun Sen unscathed.

Chhun's lawyer, Richard Callahan, said his client only wished "to bring democracy to his homeland" and said he had never intended to kill or injure anyone.

Chhun is due to be sentenced on 8 September.