Tim Sakhorn being sentenced in a Vietnamese court.Reported by Khmerization
A human right official said that human right groups in Cambodia are trying to help Monk Tim Sakhorn get a temporary political asylum in Thailand, reports Radio Free Asia.
Mr. Ang Chanrith, executive chairman of the Kampuchea Krom Human Right Organisation, told RFA on the afternoon of 18th April that many Kampuchea Krom human right groups in Phnom Penh had actively tried to help Monk Tim Sakhorn to get a temporary asylum in Thailand.
He said: "All of us who live in Cambodia will not abandon him. We will continue to push the UNHCR to offer him a temporary asylum in Bangkok. We have worked with many human right organisations such as UN Human Right Centre in Cambodia, Human Right Watch, Amnesty International to ask them to help push the UNHCR in Bangkok to offer asylum to him."
Tim Sakhorn was an ex-abbot of Phnom Den North Pagoda in Takeo province. He was forcibly defrocked and arrested for engaging in subversive activities against Vietnam, convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisnoment in Hanoi. He was eventually released after strong pressures from international outcry. He has escaped to Thailand on 11th April 2009 while he was allowed to visit his relatives in Cambodia for 14 days to celebrate the Khmer New Year.
Gen. Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Tim Sakhorn had full right to reside in Cambodia without any fears for his own safety. He said: "He (Sakhorn) had other aims so he used the pretext (of fears) to seek political asylum. This is not new because other people before him did the same thing."
Mr. Trinh Ba Cam, spokesman for the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, said he is not interested in Tim Sakhorn's case because he is just an ordinary man. He said: "We will not stop him from going anywhere but he has to ask for permission. But if he escaped (run away) it means that he did something against the laws."
Tim Sakhorn is currently in hiding in Thailand and is seeking a political asylum from the UNHCR in Bangkok.
A human right official said that human right groups in Cambodia are trying to help Monk Tim Sakhorn get a temporary political asylum in Thailand, reports Radio Free Asia.
Mr. Ang Chanrith, executive chairman of the Kampuchea Krom Human Right Organisation, told RFA on the afternoon of 18th April that many Kampuchea Krom human right groups in Phnom Penh had actively tried to help Monk Tim Sakhorn to get a temporary asylum in Thailand.
He said: "All of us who live in Cambodia will not abandon him. We will continue to push the UNHCR to offer him a temporary asylum in Bangkok. We have worked with many human right organisations such as UN Human Right Centre in Cambodia, Human Right Watch, Amnesty International to ask them to help push the UNHCR in Bangkok to offer asylum to him."
Tim Sakhorn was an ex-abbot of Phnom Den North Pagoda in Takeo province. He was forcibly defrocked and arrested for engaging in subversive activities against Vietnam, convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisnoment in Hanoi. He was eventually released after strong pressures from international outcry. He has escaped to Thailand on 11th April 2009 while he was allowed to visit his relatives in Cambodia for 14 days to celebrate the Khmer New Year.
Gen. Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Tim Sakhorn had full right to reside in Cambodia without any fears for his own safety. He said: "He (Sakhorn) had other aims so he used the pretext (of fears) to seek political asylum. This is not new because other people before him did the same thing."
Mr. Trinh Ba Cam, spokesman for the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, said he is not interested in Tim Sakhorn's case because he is just an ordinary man. He said: "We will not stop him from going anywhere but he has to ask for permission. But if he escaped (run away) it means that he did something against the laws."
Tim Sakhorn is currently in hiding in Thailand and is seeking a political asylum from the UNHCR in Bangkok.
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