BBC News, UK
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Chhun Yasith, file image Chhun said he wanted to avenge the death of his father
A Cambodian-born accountant has been jailed for life in the US for plotting a failed coup attempt against the Cambodian government 10 years ago.
Chhun Yasith, file image Chhun said he wanted to avenge the death of his father
A Cambodian-born accountant has been jailed for life in the US for plotting a failed coup attempt against the Cambodian government 10 years ago.
Chhun Yasith (pictured), 53, was found guilty by a court in Los Angeles in 2008 of four charges relating to the failed attack.
Dozens of armed men attacked government buildings in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, in a bid to overthrow Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Chhun is a naturalised US citizen who fled Cambodia as a refugee in 1982.
He grew frustrated with the lack of free elections under Hun Sen, a former member of the Khmer Rouge under dictator Pol Pot, said Chhun's lawyer Richard Callahan.
"He saw Hun Sen as on an even par with Pol Pot," Mr Callahan said.
Chhun also wanted to avenge the death of his father, whom he witnessed being beheaded by Khmer Rouge soldiers, Mr Callahan added.
'Tragic life'
Delivering the sentence in Los Angeles, District Judge Dean Pregerson said: "I don't think Mr Chhun is an evil human being. I think he's had a tragic life and had the misfortune of being born in a place where terrible things were happening."
In 2008 Chhun was found guilty of three charges of conspiracy and one of planning a military expedition against a US ally.
Prosecutors said Chhun founded a group called the Cambodian Freedom Fighters in the late 1990s.
They said that the group - controlled by Chhun from Thailand - carried out a series of smaller attacks in the lead-up to the coup attempt named "Operation Volcano".
Then on 24 November 2000, rebels armed with rockets and grenades attacked government buildings in Phnom Penh.
Several people were killed and more injured. In the wake of the attack more than 100 people were jailed.
Chhun was tried and convicted in absentia by a Phnom Penh court.
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Cambodian Coup-Plotter From Snooptown Gets Life in Prison
OC Weekly (Blog)
By Nick Schou, Wednesday, Jun. 23 2010
Yasith Chhun has had a tough life. The Maoist Khmer Rouge government murdered his father during the mid-1970s, and a few years later, Chhun resettled in Long Beach, where he became an accountant. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese communists invaded Cambodia, kicked out the Khmer Rouge, and installed a dictatorship led by Hun Sen, also a communist.
Confused? Well you're not alone. In any case, Chhun knew he had to do something about this confusing situation, so in the late 1990s, he formed a group called the Cambodian Freedom Fighters that began plotting with former Khmer Rouge officials (the same thugs who murdered millions of Cambodians including Chhun's father) to oust Hun Sen. Chhun's plan was to carry out terrorist attacks on Cambodian soil that would lay the groundwork for a military coup. Instead, his efforts led to the deaths of several innocent bystanders and in 2008, Chhun was convicted of several federal charges involving killing people overseas.
According to a story today in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Chhun has now been sentenced to life in prison. He read a long statement that apparently failed to explain much about why he was conspiring with the folks responsible for the mess he was trying to solve, leaving the judge unsure of what to say except that he felt sorry for Chhun who was not an "evil" man but who simply had a "tragic life."
The bizarre saga is reminiscent of a similar plan the Weekly covered in detail by several Hmong exiles, including the OC's very own Vang Pao, the former leader of the CIA-backed "Secret Army" who fought the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao guerrillas in Laos during the 1960s and early 1970s. (Charges were dropped against the ailing general last year but remain in place against his alleged co-consiprators at a federal courthouse in Sacramento.
Chhun is a naturalised US citizen who fled Cambodia as a refugee in 1982.
He grew frustrated with the lack of free elections under Hun Sen, a former member of the Khmer Rouge under dictator Pol Pot, said Chhun's lawyer Richard Callahan.
"He saw Hun Sen as on an even par with Pol Pot," Mr Callahan said.
Chhun also wanted to avenge the death of his father, whom he witnessed being beheaded by Khmer Rouge soldiers, Mr Callahan added.
'Tragic life'
Delivering the sentence in Los Angeles, District Judge Dean Pregerson said: "I don't think Mr Chhun is an evil human being. I think he's had a tragic life and had the misfortune of being born in a place where terrible things were happening."
In 2008 Chhun was found guilty of three charges of conspiracy and one of planning a military expedition against a US ally.
Prosecutors said Chhun founded a group called the Cambodian Freedom Fighters in the late 1990s.
They said that the group - controlled by Chhun from Thailand - carried out a series of smaller attacks in the lead-up to the coup attempt named "Operation Volcano".
Then on 24 November 2000, rebels armed with rockets and grenades attacked government buildings in Phnom Penh.
Several people were killed and more injured. In the wake of the attack more than 100 people were jailed.
Chhun was tried and convicted in absentia by a Phnom Penh court.
-----------------------------------
Cambodian Coup-Plotter From Snooptown Gets Life in Prison
OC Weekly (Blog)
By Nick Schou, Wednesday, Jun. 23 2010
Yasith Chhun has had a tough life. The Maoist Khmer Rouge government murdered his father during the mid-1970s, and a few years later, Chhun resettled in Long Beach, where he became an accountant. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese communists invaded Cambodia, kicked out the Khmer Rouge, and installed a dictatorship led by Hun Sen, also a communist.
Confused? Well you're not alone. In any case, Chhun knew he had to do something about this confusing situation, so in the late 1990s, he formed a group called the Cambodian Freedom Fighters that began plotting with former Khmer Rouge officials (the same thugs who murdered millions of Cambodians including Chhun's father) to oust Hun Sen. Chhun's plan was to carry out terrorist attacks on Cambodian soil that would lay the groundwork for a military coup. Instead, his efforts led to the deaths of several innocent bystanders and in 2008, Chhun was convicted of several federal charges involving killing people overseas.
According to a story today in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Chhun has now been sentenced to life in prison. He read a long statement that apparently failed to explain much about why he was conspiring with the folks responsible for the mess he was trying to solve, leaving the judge unsure of what to say except that he felt sorry for Chhun who was not an "evil" man but who simply had a "tragic life."
The bizarre saga is reminiscent of a similar plan the Weekly covered in detail by several Hmong exiles, including the OC's very own Vang Pao, the former leader of the CIA-backed "Secret Army" who fought the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao guerrillas in Laos during the 1960s and early 1970s. (Charges were dropped against the ailing general last year but remain in place against his alleged co-consiprators at a federal courthouse in Sacramento.
2 comments:
Yasith failed, but many a Yasith will follow in his footsteps to help him fulfill his dream. I'm proud of Yasith.
We will not rest, and try to find (legal) way to free him by all means. Like Nelson Mandela, He had been jailed for all most of his life-time. He was accused as terrorist just like Yasit. We all die sometimes anyway. We will talk to America, when we win. We will carry on fighting for our freedom. Free our country from the Hanoi evil expansionism in our country.
As a heroe one should not be afraid of death or prision. It is better to live in meanningful life like him.
It is only sub-human who want to live long in the corrupted palace and corrupted mind and listen to his master Hanoi to destroys or betray your country and people.
Sihanouk is one of them.
Chhun Yasit name will be engraved in the golden Khmer's heroes history book. He is our true Khmer heroe.
True Khmer
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