Rainsy to face trial for ‘incitement’ on Nov 25

SELF-EXILED opposition leader Sam Rainsy will face trial on November 25 on charges of faking public documents and incitement after opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour posted a “fake” portion of a 1979 Cambodia-Vietnam border treaty on Rainsy’s Facebook page.

Rainsy is facing similar charges to Sok Hour, who posted the documents on the Facebook page last August, leading Prime Minster Hun Sen to order Sok Hour’s “urgent” arrest, with Rainsy being summonsed for the case in November.

“The court orders Sam Rainsy to appear at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on November 25 for trial as an accused,” reads the August 23 summons, issued by prosecutor Sieng Sok.

Neither Sok nor court spokesman Ly Sophanna could be reached yesterday, and Rainsy’s lawyer, Hem Socheat, re- fused to comment on the case because he had yet to receive the summons.

However, CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanrath yesterday dismissed the case, calling it an attempt to put political pressure on the party. “I believe that there can be no resolution, besides [the two parties] talking and resolving this problem,” he said.

The CNRP leadership’s legal hassles do not end there, with acting party president Kem Sokha scheduled to face trial on September 9 for refusing to appear before court for a case related to an alleged affair.

Sokha has refused to appear before court after being summonsed over a procurement of prostitution case in May, claiming parliamentary immunity.

Authorities later said that refusal to appear constituted an in flagrante delicto – or red-handed – crime, allowing them to bypass his constitutional immunity.