BREAKING: Opposition Senator Arrested and Will Face Court Monday

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Khmer Times/Ven Rathavong

Saturday, 15 August 2015

PHNOM PENH, Aug 15 (Khmer Times) – Opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour was arrested early this morning in a house in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh. Police reportedly had the house surrounded since Friday evening.

Mr. Sok Hour’s arrest was ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen, during a graduation ceremony at the National Institute of Education on Wednesday.

The prime minister accused the senator of treason for spreading misinformation regarding the ongoing Vietnam – Cambodia border dispute via Facebook.

Mr. Hun Sen further alleged that Senator Hong Sok Hour had produced a forged document purporting to be a 1979 friendship treaty between the two countries. According to the premier the document has been materially altered.

read more: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14413/opposition-senator-arrested-and-will-face-court-monday/

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WRITTEN BEFORE THE ARREST

Fugitive Cambodian Senator Says He Will Surrender on Monday

RFA

A Cambodian senator targeted for arrest by the country’s prime minister for posting a disputed diplomatic document online will turn himself in to authorities on Monday to defend himself against accusations of treason, the fugitive lawmaker told RFA on Friday.

Hong Sok Hour of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) had posted comments on social media claiming that an article of the 1979 Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Treaty was meant to dismantle, rather than simply define, the border between the two countries.

He had also posted online two copies of the 36-year-old border agreement with neighboring Vietnam containing the article's disputed wording.

During a graduation speech in the capital Phnom Penh on Thursday, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen accused Hong Sok Hour of posting a “fake” copy of the treaty and called for his arrest, ordering the city’s international airport to block him from leaving the country.

Hong Sok Hour, who holds citizenship in both Cambodia and France, said that after hearing Hun Sen had called for his arrest, he had approached the French Embassy for help, but that with encouragement from the embassy he will now surrender to authorities on Aug. 17 at 10:00 a.m. in order to explain his actions.

“I did not fake the disputed Article 4 of the treaty,” Hong Sok Hour said, speaking from hiding.

“I got the document from the Internet a long time ago, probably seven to eight years ago, and put it up on Facebook without knowing if it was accurate,” he said, adding that he is ready to correct the disputed article online if it is proven false.

Despite Hun Sen’s demand that Hong Sok Hour be arrested for “treasonous” behavior in the case, no warrant for his arrest has yet been issued and no formal charges have been filed, according to Cambodian media sources.

In an ongoing dispute with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)—a merged political grouping that includes the SRP and is led by Sam Rainsy—contends that Vietnam has been encroaching upon Cambodian territory at various spots along the 1,228-kilometer (763-mile) border.

It has also accused the government of ceding land to Vietnam, which invaded and occupied Cambodia in 1979, by using incorrect maps to determine border demarcations.

The border issues led to clashes at the end of June between activists led by CNRP members and Vietnamese villagers as the Cambodians inspected a road that the Vietnamese had built in a disputed area of Cambodia’s Svay Rieng province.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Richard Finney.

source: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/surrender-08142015181652.html

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Senator Hong Sok Hour arrested

Sat, 15 August 2015

Sam Rainsy Party Senator Hong Sok Hour, accused of treason in a speech by the prime minister two days ago, was arrested at about 6am this morning at the Phnom Penh home of a fellow opposition lawmaker, police confirmed.

“It is true we have arrested him,” Interior Ministry spokesman General Khieu Sopheak told the Post. “We will send him to the court and whatever charge he receives is the court’s decision.”

Police had surrounded the house of Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Yon Tharo in the capital’s Sen Sok district late Friday evening before making their move early this morning.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/senator-hong-sok-hour-arrested

[EnzoRippo]

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A few years ago, Thai nationalists provoked Cambodian troops at the border. They wanted some pieces off Cambodian territory back to Thailand but maps are maps. They was the arm wings of the ultra royalists and yellow shirt. Abhisit was more than happy to DO NOT condemn them and even support them => a short war erupted.

Now Cambodian ultra nationalists are provoking Vietnamese at the border. They want some pieces of Vietnamese territory back to Cambodia but maps are maps. Hun Sen does not want any war with anyone... outside Cambodia.

The funniest is that the Cambodian opposition brought their "real maps" to prove Vietnam is evil but... after looking at them, the experts saw that they were THE SAME MAPS than the gvt. Maps are maps. The only solution for Thai extremists and Khmer extremists is to reject all the French legal maps (in the 2 cases, French made the maps) and "imagine" the maps they like, thus HoChiMinh City could be Khmer and Battambang could be Thai. Fortunately maps are maps and you cannot just change the border according to your wishes.

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The real point of yellow Thais is that they hate Khmers and are ready to fight.
The real point of Cambodian opposition is that they hate Vietnamese and are ready to fight.
Yellow shirts and Cambodian opposition are Dangerous because they want war and death of inhabitants and soldiers.

They need to be calmed down. "Incitement to racial hatred" is an offense in any country. Well, civilized countries.

So:
Fortunately Hun Sen is wiser than Abhisit and he does not fall in the trap. No war should erupt between Cambodia and Vietnam for a couple of rice-fields.
Unfortunately, Hun Sen is Hun Sen and even if he's 100% right about the border story, he's 100% wrong when he arrests this Senator. Well, let's say, 200% wrong.

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Opposition Senator Arrested in Cambodia for Facebook Posting

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Aug 15, 2015, 12:30 AM ET

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press

Cambodian authorities arrested an opposition senator Saturday, two days after Prime Minister Hun Sen accused him of treason for comments posted on Facebook.

Armed police handcuffed Hong Sok Hour, who was the subject of a two-day manhunt as a result of the comments that criticized a 36-year-old border agreement with Vietnam.

Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Khieu Sopheak said the senator was arrested in an early morning raid at the home of an opposition lawmaker where he was hiding and was taken to police headquarters for questioning before heading to a court to face charges.

The arrest was the latest in a string of attacks on Hun Sen's political opponents. In recent weeks, Hun Sen has used his public speeches to deliver what amounts to arrest orders, which are generally carried out quickly.

On Thursday, Hun Sen accused Hong Sok Hour of posting material about the 1979 border agreement. Hun Sen was foreign minister at that time in a government installed by a Vietnamese occupation force that invaded Cambodia to oust the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.

"This is a crime that amounts to treason," Hun Sen said during a speech at a graduation ceremony. "An act of treason like this cannot be tolerated."

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has been seeking political benefit by accusing Vietnam of encroaching on Cambodian soil — a politically sensitive topic that has ramped up tension at the border.

The opposition says the courts, under Hun Sen's influence, are pressuring them to drop the border issue by jailing their activists on insurrection charges in connection with a violent protest last year.

Hun Sen has been in power for almost three decades, and while Cambodia is formally democratic, his government is authoritarian and known for intimidating opponents.

An opposition spokesman said that Saturday's arrest was illegal since Hong Sok Hour is protected by parliamentary immunity.

source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/opposition-senator-arrested-cambodia-facebook-posting-33098804#.Vc7E8Gc6l64.twitter