Rainsy to face immediate legal action for insulting the King

Minister of Justice Keut Rith has ordered the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to take immediate legal action against former opposition leader Sam Rainsy for insulting King Norodom Sihamoni on Facebook. Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin said yesterday that insulting the King is “not an exercise in the right to freedom of expression”, but a criminal offence punishable under Cambodian law.

Malin said the order from the Minister of Justice is not in accordance with the orders of any institutions or persons, but is the ministry performing its duties to protect the dignity and honour of the King. The order was made after Rainsy, who is living in exile in Paris, on December 20 posted on his official Facebook page criticising Prime Minister Hun Sen’s fundraising to purchase a COVID-19 vaccine, to which the King donated.

“Mr Hun Sen does not know that the COVID-19 vaccine is not available in retail and if you want to order in bulk from pharmaceutical companies and laboratories in the West that produce those vaccines, you have to deposit billions of dollars first,” he said. “Now Mr Hun Sen is silent about this and he is ready to pay back the philanthropists who were cheated by him, including the puppet King,” he added.

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