A Change of Guard

សូមស្តាប់វិទ្យុសង្គ្រោះជាតិ Please read more Khmer news and listen to CNRP Radio at National Rescue Party. សូមស្តាប់វីទ្យុខ្មែរប៉ុស្តិ៍/Khmer Post Radio.
Follow Khmerization on Facebook/តាមដានខ្មែរូបនីយកម្មតាម Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khmerization.khmerican

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Released poet faces uncertain schedule in UK [While the alleged drug trafficker Hun To roams freely in Australia, Kosal Khiev was detained even when he was invited by the host country]

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 
By Sean Gleeson 
Phnom Penh Post
120626_02c
Khmer-American exile Kosal Khiev is Cambodia's first spoken word artist. Photograph: supplied
After being released from immigration detention on Sunday, Phnom Penh-based spoken-word poet Kosal Khiev faces an uncertain few weeks in the United Kingdom ahead of a raft of scheduled appearances across the country.

Video: Kosal Detained in London Airport for "further questions regarding your visa"

Khiev, who spent nearly 24 hours locked up after being detained on arrival at Heathrow Airport, will fulfil his performance obligations for Poetry Parnassus, a festival coinciding with the London Olympics.

Immigration authorities, however, remain in possession of Khiev’s passport, and it is not known whether he will be permitted to complete a regional tour of the UK scheduled for the coming weeks.

Masahiro Sugano, a film-maker accompanying Khiev, posted a YouTube video on Sunday night in which the poet thanked supporters for their well-wishes.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone out there for your love and support,” Khiev said. “It really gave me a boost of courage to continue on this road, continue on this journey, and not to stop and not to give up. Thank you.”

The Southbank Centre, the arts establishment that will host Poetry Parnassus, issued a statement on Sunday regarding Khiev’s detention.

“Southbank Centre has liaised closely with the Home Office, and Kosal Khiev has been released this afternoon on a temporary basis to carry out his part in Southbank Centre’s Poetry Parnassus. We are working with the authorities to understand the reason for his detainment,” it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sean Gleeson at sean.gleeson@phnompenhpost.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Too bad,they say lightning never stlike the same place twices,they were wrong,it happen to Kiev Kosal.An old ghost past never let him go...Don't worry you will be just fine,enjoy your vacation.