BREAKING: Sam Rainsy removed from National Assembly, committee to arrest him at airport

[geovalin]

Cambodia forms committee to arrest opposition leader

PHNOM PENH (Kyodo) -- The Cambodian government has formed a committee to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy for defamation upon his planned return to Cambodia on Monday night.

The committee comprising 16 generals has been given responsibility to arrest Sam Rainsy and send him to jail and also to secure social order during the operation, according to a decision dated Sunday, signed by Sar Kheng, deputy prime minister and minister of interior, a copy of which was seen Monday.

Eng Chhay Eang, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, said Sam Rainsy is scheduled to arrive around 11 p.m. at Phnom Penh International Airport after traveling to Japan and South Korea with his deputy Kem Sokha.

A Cambodian court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy over a defamation and incitement case for which he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.

The order was based on a 2011 verdict by the court and later by the Court of Appeals on March 12, 2013, for defamation and incitement to discrimination filed by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

The verdict sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison and fined him 8,000,000 riels (approximately $2,000).

The order for arrest dated Friday was made one day after Prime Minister Hun Sen warned Sam Rainsy that he may face legal action for "defamation" over his recent comments while he was in Japan.

Sam Rainsy told reporters then that Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party may seek to avoid any democratic elections in the future and called for international help to not let Hun Sen cancel the upcoming commune and national elections, slated for 2017 and 2018.

Hun Sen said Sam Rainsy should have clear evidence to back up his allegations or else a criminal case may result for making an accusation without proof.

However, the order for Sam Rainsy's arrest was made just hours after a lawyer representing Hor Namhong made a request to the court to implement the verdict.

At an event held on April 17, 2008, to commemorate the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Phnom Penh, Sam Rainsy allegedly accused Hor Namhong of being one of the Khmer Rouge cadres.

Despite the verdict being handed down in 2013, Sam Rainsy was not arrested nor put in jail but was pardoned by Hun Sen as part of national reconciliation before the general election held that year.

Eng Chhay Eang said Monday that the government and the National Assembly should reconsider the effect and the value of the pardon.

The political climate in Cambodia is heating up following physical attacks on two opposition lawmakers and the removal of Kem Sokha from the position of first vice chairman of the National Assembly. Both events took place last month.

Hun Sen was also at odds with Sam Rainsy over his comments that suggested the success of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in the general election is good for democracy in Cambodia and may lead to Hun Sen's defeat in the 2018 election.

source: http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Cambodia-forms-committee-to-arrest-opposition-leader

[geovalin]

Rainsy stripped of lawmaker status

Mon, 16 November 2015

Chhay Channyda and Taing Vida

Sam Rainsy is no longer a lawmaker.

The decision to strip the opposition leader of his lawmaker status and immunity followed a morning meeting of the National Assembly’s permanent committee that was boycotted by the Cambodia National Rescue Party.

“His Excellency Sam Rainsy has lost the rights, parliamentary privileges and membership as a member of the National Assembly for the Kampong Cham constituency,” Assembly president Heng Samrin said in a statement issued just before lunchtime.

Samrin’s statement cites the Cambodian Constitution as well as provision 83 of the National Assembly’s internal regulations and article 139 of law on election of members of National Assembly.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-stripped-lawmaker-status

[geovalin]

Cambodia police 'will arrest' opposition chief on his return

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodian police vowed to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy if he returns to the kingdom as planned on Monday night, November 16, in a move condemned as a political attack by the country's strongman prime minister on his main rival.

A court issued an arrest warrant for Rainsy last week over an unserved two-year sentence for defamation, a day after Hun Sen threatened him with a separate legal action for comments urging the premier to move towards a peaceful exit from office.

Hun Sen – who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades – is frequently accused of influencing the courts to tie-up his opponents, a tactic used several times since a 2013 election that Rainsy says was rigged by the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Rainsy, who is currently visiting South Korea, was sentenced in 2011 for accusing the foreign minister of being a former member of the brutal Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979.

He is due to arrive at Phnom Penh's airport at around 10:30pm (1530 GMT, 11:30 pm Manila time) and police say they will arrest him when he sets foot in the country.

"We must arrest him. It is the duty of police. We must do it after the court ordered his arrest," Kirt Chantharith, a spokesman for the national police, told AFP.

The order to arrest Rainsy was confirmed by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, while the spokesman for the parliament said the opposition chief automatically lost his status as a lawmaker after the warrant was issued – and with it immunity from arrest.

"When the warrant was issued, he lost all of these status," Chheang Vun told reporters.

In a video posted on his Facebook page over the weekend, Rainsy said he would defy the warrant and return to Cambodia as planned, setting up a potential showdown late on Monday.

"Cambodia is my birthplace, my mother country, I must return back in order to rescue our nation. So there is no change to my schedule. If I must die, let it be," Rainsy said.

The United States has led calls for the warrant to be withdrawn, suggesting there has been "political influence over the judicial process", while rights groups say the move matches a pattern of repression by Hun Sen.

The opposition chief is Hun Sen's main rival and was in self-exile at the time of the sentence as he also faced a string of other convictions he claimed were trumped-up.

Rainsy only returned to Cambodia ahead of the flawed 2013 elections after receiving a royal pardon for the sentences against him. According to Human Rights Watch, the 2011 defamation case was not mentioned in the pardon.

Rainsy's recent comments urging the international community to pressure Hun Sen for full democratization were made during his trip to Japan last week in comments inspired by the historic vote in Myanmar. – Rappler.com

source: http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/112975-cambodia-police-arrest-opposition-chief-return

[uptoyoumyfriend]

banana republic,what d'you expect?

[dennis123]

In Phnom Penh right now, wonder if I should start to worry.

UPDATE: He just posted on his Facebook that he won't return tonight but in a few days in broad day light to give diplomatic intervention some time to kick in.

Edited November 16, 2015 by dennis123

[Ducking and]

For Hun Sen and his haunchmen, a pardon is not a pardon, only a temporary non-enforcement of an outrageous verdict. Less safe in Cambodia than in Thailand, methinks. I would not want to invest there.

[Srikcir]

Just another constitutional monarchy pretending to be a democratic regime. With 16 generals assigned to arrest Sam Rainsy and send him to jail, guess who's really ruling the country. All that's missing is the attitude adjustment session.

[geovalin]

Rainsy did not return

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/871085-rainsy-will-not-return-tonight/