A Change of Guard

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Friday 1 January 2010

Arrest warrant for opposition

Sam Rainsy failed to appear for questioning on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW

The Strait Times

PHNOM PENH - AN ARREST warrant has been issued for the leader of Cambodia's main opposition party after he ignored a provincial court order to appear for questioning, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Sam Rainsy failed to appear for questioning on Monday about an Oct 25 incident in which demarcation posts were uprooted along Cambodia's border with Vietnam. A Phnom Penh court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday, although it was not announced publicly. Government spokesman Phay Siphan confirmed on Thursday that the warrant had been issued for Rainsy, who leads the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).

In an email from France, Rainsy told Reuters he would not appear in court because the case against him was politically motivated. 'The court in Cambodia is just a political tool for the ruling party to crack down on the opposition,' he said. 'I will let this politically subservient court prosecute me in absentia because its verdict is known in advance.'

Phay insisted the judges made their decisions free of political interference and said the warrant was issued only because Rainsy missed his court date. 'No matter who you are you have to appear in court, that's the law,' he said.

Rights groups have accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of using the courts to crack down on opposition. On Nov 16, the CPP-dominated government voted to strip Rainsy of his immunity for the second time in 2009.

Rainsy faces charges of racial incitement and destruction of property for his alleged role in uprooting six border posts, which local farmers claimed were placed on their land. -- REUTERS

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