November 1, 2009
SRP's Press Release
VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES ACCUSING AND CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT SUING SAM RAINSY ON UNFOUNDED CHARGES
Late last month the Chantrea district (Svay Rieng province) authorities filed a criminal lawsuit at the Svay Rieng provincial court against opposition leader Sam Rainsy following the latter’s participation in a religious ceremony (Kathen) on October 25 at Ang Romdenh pagoda in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samraong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province.
Ang Romdenh pagoda is located a few hundreds meters from the border with Vietnam. Several hundreds people from Phnom Penh and Svay Rieng province attended the Kathen ceremony. There are professionally made video footages of the whole October 25 event, from the procession from Phnom Penh to the ceremony itself at the pagoda to a subsequent short walk across surrounding rice fields to a newly delineated “white zone” along the border with Vietnam.
During the Kathen ceremony at the pagoda, several local villagers spontaneously, successively, unexpectedly and vehemently complained to Sam Rainsy and other National Assembly members present on that occasion that “Vietnamese authorities have grabbed their rice fields over the last few months.”
First taken aback by such grievances during a religious ceremony and invited to go to see the problem with his own eyes by the plaintiffs, who were supported by all the villagers present at the pagoda, Sam Rainsy said he would go to try to assess the situation on the spot after the end of the religious ceremony: Buddhist monks were having their midday only meal and offerings brought from Phnom Penh were to be ritually made to the pagoda.
After the end of the religious ceremony, several dozens villagers led the National Assembly members to their nearby rice fields and showed them a bunch of six newly planted wooden sticks which, according to what local authorities had recently told the villagers, were part of a “new line” delineating a new “white zone” they were not allowed to do anything on from now on. Villagers told the National Assembly members how furious they were since they had been told such a thing because they had worked and lived on these/their rice fields for decades without any problem. They said this was just land grabbing. Nobody understands the alleged technicalities of, and the rationale behind, the recent planting of those sticks on the Cambodian farmers’ rice fields. Villagers accused those who had planted the sticks of violating their private properties. Some villagers said they had pulled out some of the sticks from their rice fields but had been reprimanded by the local authorities. They emotionally called on the higher-level government and any justice-loving organizations to help them.
Sam Rainsy then told the villagers he now understood their grievances and, as an elected representative of the Cambodian people, would not tolerate such injustice. He said such property-violating sticks arbitrarily planted on the villagers’ rice fields without any serious and convincing explanation, were unacceptable. He added he would like to see those sticks planted before his eyes and under his feet be symbolically removed pending an official investigation he would call for when he returns to Phnom Penh. While he was subsequently giving an interview on the phone to a Phnom Penh-based reporter from Radio Free Asia, who had just interviewed on the same phone some of the villagers present on the spot, the assistance in solidarity with the victims pulled out the six wooden sticks and threw them away on the spot. The video footages clearly show that neither Sam Rainsy nor any other National Assembly member took with them those sticks on their way back to Phnom Penh as claimed by both the Vietnamese and the Cambodian authorities who are accusing Sam Rainsy of “sabotage, destruction and theft of public property.”
SRP Cabinet
SRP's Press Release
VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES ACCUSING AND CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT SUING SAM RAINSY ON UNFOUNDED CHARGES
Late last month the Chantrea district (Svay Rieng province) authorities filed a criminal lawsuit at the Svay Rieng provincial court against opposition leader Sam Rainsy following the latter’s participation in a religious ceremony (Kathen) on October 25 at Ang Romdenh pagoda in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samraong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province.
Ang Romdenh pagoda is located a few hundreds meters from the border with Vietnam. Several hundreds people from Phnom Penh and Svay Rieng province attended the Kathen ceremony. There are professionally made video footages of the whole October 25 event, from the procession from Phnom Penh to the ceremony itself at the pagoda to a subsequent short walk across surrounding rice fields to a newly delineated “white zone” along the border with Vietnam.
During the Kathen ceremony at the pagoda, several local villagers spontaneously, successively, unexpectedly and vehemently complained to Sam Rainsy and other National Assembly members present on that occasion that “Vietnamese authorities have grabbed their rice fields over the last few months.”
First taken aback by such grievances during a religious ceremony and invited to go to see the problem with his own eyes by the plaintiffs, who were supported by all the villagers present at the pagoda, Sam Rainsy said he would go to try to assess the situation on the spot after the end of the religious ceremony: Buddhist monks were having their midday only meal and offerings brought from Phnom Penh were to be ritually made to the pagoda.
After the end of the religious ceremony, several dozens villagers led the National Assembly members to their nearby rice fields and showed them a bunch of six newly planted wooden sticks which, according to what local authorities had recently told the villagers, were part of a “new line” delineating a new “white zone” they were not allowed to do anything on from now on. Villagers told the National Assembly members how furious they were since they had been told such a thing because they had worked and lived on these/their rice fields for decades without any problem. They said this was just land grabbing. Nobody understands the alleged technicalities of, and the rationale behind, the recent planting of those sticks on the Cambodian farmers’ rice fields. Villagers accused those who had planted the sticks of violating their private properties. Some villagers said they had pulled out some of the sticks from their rice fields but had been reprimanded by the local authorities. They emotionally called on the higher-level government and any justice-loving organizations to help them.
Sam Rainsy then told the villagers he now understood their grievances and, as an elected representative of the Cambodian people, would not tolerate such injustice. He said such property-violating sticks arbitrarily planted on the villagers’ rice fields without any serious and convincing explanation, were unacceptable. He added he would like to see those sticks planted before his eyes and under his feet be symbolically removed pending an official investigation he would call for when he returns to Phnom Penh. While he was subsequently giving an interview on the phone to a Phnom Penh-based reporter from Radio Free Asia, who had just interviewed on the same phone some of the villagers present on the spot, the assistance in solidarity with the victims pulled out the six wooden sticks and threw them away on the spot. The video footages clearly show that neither Sam Rainsy nor any other National Assembly member took with them those sticks on their way back to Phnom Penh as claimed by both the Vietnamese and the Cambodian authorities who are accusing Sam Rainsy of “sabotage, destruction and theft of public property.”
SRP Cabinet
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