Around 20,000 people have protested in the Cambodian
capital expressing anger at the acting president of the main opposition
party for describing a notorious Khmer Rouge prison as a Vietnamese
invention.
Protesters in Phnom Penh demanded a public apology
from Cambodia National Rescue Party's (CNRP) Kem Sokha for saying the
Tuol Sleng prison was invented by the Vietnamese when they ousted the
Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Chum Mey, an 83-year-old survivor of the camp, led the protest.
"I won't allow anyone to distort history while I'm alive," he said.
"We demand that Kem Sokha lights incense sticks and apologises before the souls of the dead."
The Association of Khmer Rouge Victims had given a deadline of a week ago for Mr Sokha to make a statement.
Mr Sokha insists he has done nothing wrong and the CNRP says the comment was fabricated to cause "political trouble".
The
CNRP says the comments were doctored to cause trouble before upcoming
elections in which Prime Minister Hun Sen is looking to extend his
almost 30 years in power.
The comments were published on ruling
party media, but Mr Sokha says he has another copy of the audio which
proves he did not make the offending statement.
Protests reportedly took place in various area of Cambodia.
However some participants told Radio Australia they did not know why they were involved in the protest, and only joined in because local authorities told them to.
Around 15,000 people from Toul Sleng were tortured and executed the "Killing Fields" era.
Last year, the former head of the prison, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was sentenced to life in jail.
ABC/AFP
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