A Change of Guard

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Wednesday, 14 July 2010

Mu Sochua stood firm, choosing jail over fine payment


By Khmerization
Source: RFA

While the condemned the Cambodian government's bitter legal pursuit against her, Mu Sochua (pictured) has vehemently declared that she has chosen jail rather than pay the fine over a crime she said she did not commit, reports Radio Free Asia.

The Cambodian court gave her until the 16th of July in which to pay the fine for defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, or faced with imprisonment. Mu Sochua said she chose the latter. "I have told you already about my choice and that is I will not pay the fine. The court can order me to do whatever it wants other than ordering me to pay the fine. My stance has not changed. But for me, it I don't pay the fine I will have to walk straight into jail and get arrested. So, I know that the the first choice is a jail term and the second choice is to pay the fine. I have chosen the first choice", she said firmly.

Miss Arun Reaksmey, representative of People's Network, said on Tuesday that her group is collecting the money to pay the fine on Mu Sochua's behalf because the people do not want to see a fine female politician like Mu Sochua goes to jail. "She is our female role model. her struggle and her bravery have inspired us. We love her and we don't want to lose her for the cause of defending women, in particular. We want to see her and we think that jail term is not a pleasant experience, whether it is a long or short period. Our stance is we do not want to see a brilliantly brave lady who has been internationally-recognised like her (go to jail)", she said.

Lawyer for Prime Minister Hun Sen, Mr. Ky Tek, however, said that this is not about freedom of expression of democracy. "This is not about democracy. It is about the power of the court. And the laws related to the powers of the court do not exempt any politicians, democrats, members of the civil society, members of the opposition parties or the ruling party. It requires that everybody is equal before the laws," he said.

Yesterday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Navi Pillay, condemned the case against Mu Sochua as highly politicized and called it "an alarming erosion of both freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary in Cambodia".

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), went further, accusing the Cambodian court system of being a political tool used by the ruling party to silence critics and opposition activists. “The criminal justice system was the bedrock of human rights protection. However, in this case it had become a blunt instrument to silence freedom of expression”, told reporters in Geneva.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

First Mu sochua was make a laws suit
to Prime Minster Hun Sen , because he
said that , Some women had a thick face or skin on the face was thick .
And would like Prime minister to pay
fine a bout 500 rieal .

In the democracy country we could not suit anybody as we wanted with
out the real evidence .
Good luck Mu sochua

Anonymous said...

Mu Sochua is out for a showdown with Mr. hun Sen. She is prepared to make the hardest ascrifice of her life- going to prison. her strong stance against the injustice has gained some high-profile support, with the UN human Rights Commissioner coming out strongly to condemn the cambodian court and make comments supportive of her cause. This is good for democracy and the Cambodian legal system. she is preapred to sacrifice her freedom for the betterment of Cambodia's justice system so that all Cambodians can get real and natural justice- not manufactured justice which always go the way of the rich and powerful.

Anonymous said...

The weaker one will bend to the will of the one more powerful. Let's see who it is.