 |
| Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is no stranger to controversy. KT/ Mai Vireak |
Outspoken opposition leader Sam Rainsy has accused the prime minister of holding political prisoners hostage in a bid to have him expelled as opposition leader.
On Saturday Mr. Rainsy, who lives in self-exile in France, sent an email to local media outlets which said acting opposition leader Mr. Sokha had been asked to sign a statement saying those in his party who criticized Prime Minister Hun Sen’s family would be expelled.
The statement, which Khmer Times cannot verify, said those who made the allegation that the premier’s eldest son, Hun Manet, was the love child of Mr. Hun Sen’s wife and a Vietnamese general must be held accountable for their actions.
“Cambodia’s political prisoners are just Hun Sen’s hostages who are being used to blackmail the CNRP,” Mr. Rainsy said.
According to unverified reports on the statement intended to be signed by Mr. Sokha, it said those criticizing Mr. Hun Sen’s family were “brainless” and “depraved.”
“As a CNRP member, I myself would like to publicly condemn all those people who insulted him and I see them as people who have no value,” the statement allegedly reads.
According to local media, the statement claims that all those who condemn the premier’s family were also “comparable to thugs, worse than animals.”
“In case those ill-intentioned persons are found to be members of the CNRP, the party has the right to expel them,” a local media outlet quoted the statement as saying.
Ruling CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan said, however, that there were no political prisoners, only politicians who broke laws and ended up behind bars.
“So we will not pay attention to Mr. Sam Rainsy’s statement,” he said.
Mr. Rainsy was referring to five detainees who have been behind bars for months in relation to an investigation into Mr. Sokha’s alleged love affair. Mr. Sokha too was sentenced to five months in prison, but was later granted a royal pardon.
After a warming of ties between Mr. Sokha and the CPP, a deal was struck last year with Interior Minister Sar Kheng saying the five detainees would be released before the year’s end. However, the five remain behind bars.
Observers have claimed that the pardons were a political ploy to drive a wedge between the two top leaders of the CNRP, Mr. Sokha and Mr. Rainsy, who fled Cambodia in 2015 to avoid arrest and cannot return after being officially exiled from the kingdom.
Khmer Times reported on Friday that Mr. Kheng had agreed to meet Mr. Sokha in an attempt to ease political tensions between the rival parties. However a date has yet to be set.
Local media outlets report that the meeting was also an attempt to negotiate the release of the five detainees.
From KI Media - Khmer Intelligence
via_IFTTT
0 Comments