Editorial by Khmerization
The Hor Namhong vs. Sam Rainsy defamation case has now spun into a political witch hunt against opposition activists in Cambodia. I, like all democracy lovers in the world, am utterly appalled to hear that Mr. Hor Namhong has used state apparatus, the court, to orchestrate the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith, an opposition newspaper editor, for publishing what purported to be defamatory against him. As I have editorialised on this subject on numerous occasions before that I fear that this case will be turned into a political theatre by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Mr. Hor Namhong in order to invoke fears and to subjugate the opposition into submission. Now, my fears has come into realisation.(Read report of Mr. Dam Sith’s arrest).
The arrest of Mr. Dam Sith was an infringement on the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It was designed with the intention to frighten Mr. Sam Rainsy into submission. It was also intended to frighten Mr. Sam Rainsy into fleeing the country and effectively throwing the opposition into disarray in order to sabotage their electoral chances in the upcoming July election. In fact, the way the Cambodian court handled this case is nothing short of tyrannical and communistic in nature.
I have also editorialised before that if one speaks the truth it is not a defamation, but it was spoken in the defence of the public interests. What Mr. Sam Rainsy and Mr. Dam Sith said was the truth and it is defendable under defamation laws, and if the case was brought before an independent court, Mr. Hor Namhong’s defamation suit will be thrown out of court in no time. But in Cambodia, anyone who is up against the ruling CPP’s elites is guaranteed to lose, as in the case with Mr. Dam Sith and, in the short future, Mr. Sam Rainsy.(Read Mr. Hor Namhong’s threat to sue Khmerization and previous editorials on this subject).
One other thing I would like to mention here is that defamation, in many countries, is a civil case. Any conviction doesn’t warrant a prison term. The conviction will be served with a penalty, that is the defamers are obliged to pay compensation to the defamed. On this point I would like to add that, in Cambodia under UNTAC laws written in the early 1990s, defamation is a criminal offence and was punishable by jail terms. But under the 2006’s ‘50+1 formula’ agreed between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Mr. Sam Rainsy, the criminal offence was annulled and removed from the defamation laws and replaced with a civil offence. So, if the court is independent and incorruptible Mr. Dam Sith would have been convicted under the civil offence rather than the criminal offence, as he has been charged now. This is the sad part of the corrupt Cambodian judiciary.
Now, I would like to elaborate on the title of this editorial of what I meant. Many people would have agreed with me that Mr. Hor Namhong, was and is not a person of principle but an opportunistic politician. He was and is a political chameleon. He changes his colours to suit the environment surrounding him. It is not a secret that he had served three regimes with opposing ideologies. First, he served as a diplomat under the Sangkum Reastr Niyum in the 1960s and followed Sihanouk to join the resistance against American-led Lon Nol's republican regime in the early 1970s. When the Khmer Rouge won power and when Sihanouk was a virtual prisoner of the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970s, Hor Namhong changed his allegiance to the Khmer Rouge and became chief of Boeng Trabek Prison. When the Vietnamese chased out the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979, Hor Namhong saw the opportunity and changed his allegiance to the Vietnamese-backed government of Mr. Heng Samrin and later the government of Mr. Hun Sen. This is what I called a Hor Namhong Factor, an unprincipled person who is a political chameleon who changes his/her allegiance in order to thrive.
Mr. Hor Namhong’s orchestration of the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith by using state apparatus, the court, to achieve his aim is an act of double perpetration and double victimisation on his part. Being a former Khmer Rouge chief of Boeng Trabek Prison he had once perpetrated crimes and victimised many Khmer Rouge victims. On the other hand, Mr. Dam Sith, Sam Rainsy and others, who were once his Khmer Rouge victims, had now once again become his victims a second time. This is how Hor Namhong’s past and present actions should be viewed and remembered- a double-perpetrator double-victimising his victims. And as a democracy lover and justice lover, I denounce and condemn outright the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith. //
“Mr. Hor Namhong’s orchestration of the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith by using state apparatus, the court, to achieve his aim is an act of double perpetration and double victimisation on his part. Being a former Khmer Rouge chief of Boeng Trabek Prison he had once perpetrated crimes and victimised many Khmer Rouge victims. On the other hand, Mr. Dam Sith, Sam Rainsy and others, who were once his Khmer Rouge victims, had now once again become his victims a second time.”
The Hor Namhong vs. Sam Rainsy defamation case has now spun into a political witch hunt against opposition activists in Cambodia. I, like all democracy lovers in the world, am utterly appalled to hear that Mr. Hor Namhong has used state apparatus, the court, to orchestrate the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith, an opposition newspaper editor, for publishing what purported to be defamatory against him. As I have editorialised on this subject on numerous occasions before that I fear that this case will be turned into a political theatre by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Mr. Hor Namhong in order to invoke fears and to subjugate the opposition into submission. Now, my fears has come into realisation.(Read report of Mr. Dam Sith’s arrest).
The arrest of Mr. Dam Sith was an infringement on the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It was designed with the intention to frighten Mr. Sam Rainsy into submission. It was also intended to frighten Mr. Sam Rainsy into fleeing the country and effectively throwing the opposition into disarray in order to sabotage their electoral chances in the upcoming July election. In fact, the way the Cambodian court handled this case is nothing short of tyrannical and communistic in nature.
I have also editorialised before that if one speaks the truth it is not a defamation, but it was spoken in the defence of the public interests. What Mr. Sam Rainsy and Mr. Dam Sith said was the truth and it is defendable under defamation laws, and if the case was brought before an independent court, Mr. Hor Namhong’s defamation suit will be thrown out of court in no time. But in Cambodia, anyone who is up against the ruling CPP’s elites is guaranteed to lose, as in the case with Mr. Dam Sith and, in the short future, Mr. Sam Rainsy.(Read Mr. Hor Namhong’s threat to sue Khmerization and previous editorials on this subject).
One other thing I would like to mention here is that defamation, in many countries, is a civil case. Any conviction doesn’t warrant a prison term. The conviction will be served with a penalty, that is the defamers are obliged to pay compensation to the defamed. On this point I would like to add that, in Cambodia under UNTAC laws written in the early 1990s, defamation is a criminal offence and was punishable by jail terms. But under the 2006’s ‘50+1 formula’ agreed between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Mr. Sam Rainsy, the criminal offence was annulled and removed from the defamation laws and replaced with a civil offence. So, if the court is independent and incorruptible Mr. Dam Sith would have been convicted under the civil offence rather than the criminal offence, as he has been charged now. This is the sad part of the corrupt Cambodian judiciary.
Now, I would like to elaborate on the title of this editorial of what I meant. Many people would have agreed with me that Mr. Hor Namhong, was and is not a person of principle but an opportunistic politician. He was and is a political chameleon. He changes his colours to suit the environment surrounding him. It is not a secret that he had served three regimes with opposing ideologies. First, he served as a diplomat under the Sangkum Reastr Niyum in the 1960s and followed Sihanouk to join the resistance against American-led Lon Nol's republican regime in the early 1970s. When the Khmer Rouge won power and when Sihanouk was a virtual prisoner of the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970s, Hor Namhong changed his allegiance to the Khmer Rouge and became chief of Boeng Trabek Prison. When the Vietnamese chased out the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979, Hor Namhong saw the opportunity and changed his allegiance to the Vietnamese-backed government of Mr. Heng Samrin and later the government of Mr. Hun Sen. This is what I called a Hor Namhong Factor, an unprincipled person who is a political chameleon who changes his/her allegiance in order to thrive.
Mr. Hor Namhong’s orchestration of the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith by using state apparatus, the court, to achieve his aim is an act of double perpetration and double victimisation on his part. Being a former Khmer Rouge chief of Boeng Trabek Prison he had once perpetrated crimes and victimised many Khmer Rouge victims. On the other hand, Mr. Dam Sith, Sam Rainsy and others, who were once his Khmer Rouge victims, had now once again become his victims a second time. This is how Hor Namhong’s past and present actions should be viewed and remembered- a double-perpetrator double-victimising his victims. And as a democracy lover and justice lover, I denounce and condemn outright the arrest of Mr. Dam Sith. //
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