A bad week got worse for embattled opposition leader Kem Sokha on
Friday, when Chum Mey, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge-era S-21 prison,
filed a lawsuit over comments Mr. Sokha allegedly made about the torture
center having been fabricated by the Vietnamese.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday at the Phnom Penh Municipal
Court by Mr. Mey, 83, and on behalf of three other survivors of S-21,
seeks $1,000 in damages from Mr. Sokha, who is the acting president of
the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The money is to be used to pay for a Buddhist ceremony to bless the
spirits of those who died at the Khmer Rouge security center, Mr. Mey
said.
“We have suffered pain because we are the victims who were detained
and tortured at Tuol Sleng [S-21 prison] during the Khmer Rouge,” Mr.
Mey said.
“If Mr. Sokha had initially agreed with my plan to just light only
three incense sticks to apologize in front of the souls of the victims
at Tuol Sleng, then the defamation lawsuit wouldn’t have been brought
against him,” Mr. Mey said.
The furor centers around two separate audio recordings that began
circulating on May 18, in which Mr. Sokha appears to accuse Vietnam of
setting up the former school building to look like a Khmer Rouge prison
and torture center. In one recording, Mr. Sokha says: “The Vietnamese
created this place with pictures [of the victims]. If this place is
truly Khmer Rouge, they would have knocked it down before they left.”
In another he says: “Why would the Khmer Rouge be so stupid as to
keep Tuol Sleng after killing many people, and keep it as a museum to
show tourists? This is just staged. I believe it is staged, isn’t it?”
Since the release of the recording by the government, Mr. Mey has
taken it upon himself to hold Mr. Sokha accountable for the comments and
was at the helm of a 10,000-strong protest in Phnom Penh last Sunday,
which the opposition says was supported by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s
ruling CPP.
A copy of Mr. Mey’s lawsuit, which bears the court prosecutor’s
stamp, shows that S-21 child survivor Norng Chan Phal, his brother Norng
Chan Than and Chin Meth are co-plaintiffs.
Kouy Thunna, Mr. Mey’s lawyer, said that if Mr. Sokha is found guilty
of public defamation, he could be fined up to $2,500 in accordance with
Article 305 of the Penal Code.
“In our complaint, we accuse him of public defamation but we don’t
know whether or not he will face more offenses until the court
investigates the issue,” Mr. Thunna said.
On Wednesday, it emerged that a woman who claims to be his long
estranged mistress is also suing Mr. Sokha for $10,000. Keo Sophannary,
41, said she is seeking compensation from Mr. Sokha, with whom she says
she has two adopted children. Apart from the cash payments, Ms.
Sophannary has also filed a criminal complaint against the opposition
leader after claiming that Mr. Sokha’s bodyguards assaulted her mother
on Thursday and required hospitalization.
Mr. Sokha’s legal woes don’t end there: On Thursday, Prime Minister
Hun Sen threatened to sue Mr. Sokha for accusing the CPP of
orchestrating a campaign of dirty tricks to disrupt the opposition
leaders’ visits to supporters in rural areas. Mr. Hun Sen also accused
Mr. Sokha of having paid for sex with a 15-year-old girl—though the
prime minister provided no evidence of his stunning allegation.
In a statement on Friday, CNRP president Sam Rainsy decried the
sustained nature of Mr. Hun Sen’s attacks on Mr. Sokha, saying that they
indicated a “weakness of the framework of democracy in Cambodia.”
“In democratic countries that have an independent judiciary, the
possibility of being sued for libel provides a natural restraint on the
temptation to sling mud at political opponents. The existence of a free
press and the right to reply mean that it is only common sense to
restrict allegations to what can be proved,” Mr. Rainsy said.
No such limitations exist in Cambodia, and Mr. Hun Sen has been able
to make a series of personal allegations against Kem Sokha without
supplying any supporting evidence, Mr. Rainsy said.
Mr. Sokha could not be reached for comment, but CNRP spokesman Yem
Ponhearith said Mr. Mey was well within his rights to submit the
lawsuit, though he denied that Mr. Sokha had made the comment he is
accused of making.
(Additional reporting by Lauren Crothers)
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