GOVERNMENT BORDER COMMITTEE FORCED TO
RECOGNIZE THEIR MISTAKES
This morning, during the appeal court hearing on my case in Phnom Penh, in response to my lawyer's questions regarding the actual whereabouts of border post # 185 which I pulled out on October 25, 2009, the team leader of the Khmer joint-border committee said that the FINAL location of post 185 is NOT the same as the location of the “temporary” post 185 where I pulled out six wooden poles last year. More telling, the government official said he would not disclose the exact coordinates of the FINAL location of post 185. He also stated that post 185 uprooted by Sam Rainsy was only “temporary.” He confessed that his group determined that temporary location from ONLY ONE reference point. Now, he has been reportedly using at least two more reference points to determine the FINAL location which is not the same as the location of “temporary” post 185 uprooted on October 25, 2009.
This latest development at the kangaroo court shows how badly Cambodia needs to establish an independent committee (not like the current official committee dominated by the government and the ruling CPP) to objectively/scientifically (not subjectively/politically) determine the border line using all legal instruments and available technologies, with the participation of all interested parties including independent observers, journalists, NGO workers, farmers living along the border and opposition members of parliament.
The above-reported development shows that the government-controlled border committee now recognizes their mistakes, not only for the "temporary" wooden border post # 185 which I pulled out on October 25, 2009, but also for a number of other border posts such as the already "permanent" (much bigger concrete-made) border post # 184 which the Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities themselves surreptitiously pulled out a few days later, in early November 2009, after they had secretly recognized their mistake regarding the post location.
Therefore, my only crime was to expose the government’s mistakes before they were willing to recognize them themselves. They should thank me instead of wanting to put me in jail!
Sam Rainsy
Member of Parliament
(currently in New York City, USA)
This latest development at the kangaroo court shows how badly Cambodia needs to establish an independent committee (not like the current official committee dominated by the government and the ruling CPP) to objectively/scientifically (not subjectively/politically) determine the border line using all legal instruments and available technologies, with the participation of all interested parties including independent observers, journalists, NGO workers, farmers living along the border and opposition members of parliament.
The above-reported development shows that the government-controlled border committee now recognizes their mistakes, not only for the "temporary" wooden border post # 185 which I pulled out on October 25, 2009, but also for a number of other border posts such as the already "permanent" (much bigger concrete-made) border post # 184 which the Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities themselves surreptitiously pulled out a few days later, in early November 2009, after they had secretly recognized their mistake regarding the post location.
Therefore, my only crime was to expose the government’s mistakes before they were willing to recognize them themselves. They should thank me instead of wanting to put me in jail!
Sam Rainsy
Member of Parliament
(currently in New York City, USA)
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