A Change of Guard

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Friday 22 July 2016

Activist denies coup call, says video an appeal for peaceful democracy


An undated photo uploaded to a Facebook by Som Vichea yesterday after he called for a coup in the Kingdom earlier this week. Facebook

An undated photo uploaded to a Facebook by Som Vichea yesterday after he called for a coup in the Kingdom earlier this week. Facebook

PPP 22 Jul, 2016 Mech Dara, Vong Sokheng and Shaun Turton


A former soldier being hunted by the military for calling on security forces to be ready to move against the government said yesterday that he was not calling for a coup, but wanted people to “stand up” against Cambodia leaders by peaceful means.

In a video posted online on July 17, Som Sovanara called on military forces to be ready to “go against the authoritarian leadership of the CPP, Hun Sen and Yuon communists”, using a word for the Vietnamese some consider derogatory.

However, speaking via telephone yesterday from Canada, where he received asylum after fleeing Cambodia in 2013, Som Sovanara slammed what he called the country’s “dictatorship” but insisted he didn’t advocate violence.

“My video clip does not mean I called for a coup or want a coup, but I want the country to have real democracy and peace,” Sovanara said, adding he was not in touch with any current military personnel.

The activist, who is also a member of the Denmark-based Khmer National Liberation Front, said he previously belonged to the Royal Cambodian Armed Force’s Intervention Division Three, a mobile force based in Preah Vihear that is sponsored by the prime minister’s cabinet and commanded by Lieutenant General Srey Deuk.




After serving in the military between 2007 and 2010, Sovanara said he fled the country in 2013 after receiving “threats and intimidation”.

“After I realized my life was at stake, I escaped through the refugee asylum of the UN. I knew many military officials and they are not happy with the government,” he said.

Lieutenant General Srey Deuk Commander of the division declined to comment yesterday, saying he was in a meeting. RCAF infantry spokesman Mao Phalla referred questions to Defense Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat, who was unreachable yesterday but on Wednesday said the man had been identified and the military was investigating.

Yesterday, president of the KNLF Sam Serey reiterated the previous statement by the party – which has been branded a “terrorist” group by the government – saying Sovanara was free to express his views.
“The KNLF is an advocacy group which has been officially registered in Denmark and we have been working peacefully according to international law, the Paris Peace Agreement and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Serey, who claimed the KNLF has 6,000 members in Cambodia.

“Therefore, Sovanara ex-pressed his personal opinion on the situation in Cambodia and called for support from Khmer people. He has the right to do that.”

In 2014, 13 people involved with Khmer National Liberation Front were sentenced to between seven and eight years in jail for an alleged plot to overthrow the government. However, six of the suspects, including Serey, were tried in absentia.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dictator &Traitor Hun Sen is scared of his
own shadows !!!

Anonymous said...

Dictator & Traitor Hun Sen is scared
of his own shadows !!!

Anonymous said...

Ah Kouk Hun Sen and Yuon are looking for way to smash the CNRP.

Sooner or later, they will say some CNRP's members are accomplices in this Facebook coup.

Therefore, the CNRP needs to be dissolved.

This person (the person in the video) may be he is so stupid or he may be a special secret agent for Hun SEn.

Anonymous said...

he must be very lucky to have no family members left in cambodia... for other khmers who live abroad with family still in cambodia, it would be suicidal [ to be so blatantly obvious on facebook -- full real name and facial picture] they do take your picture and store in their system at the airport upon arrival... that means: never be able to go visit family again... and/or fear that CPP might do something bad to them.. such as job demotion if they work for gov,or destroying their way of living ,or arranging deadly accidents ... CPP could make someone's life miserable if they want to.

Anonymous said...

Dictator & Traitor Hun Sen is using this ex-soldier to destroy the CNRP.