Rainsy charged by PM
accusing the CNRP president of “incitement” for linking him to the murder of political analyst Kem Ley.
Tech said Hun Sen would donate the money to a charity to build houses for disabled people if Rainsy paid up.
Reached by phone in France, Rainsy, who fled abroad in 2015 to avoid arrest in a separate case and now faces a raft of lawsuits brought by government officials, yesterday said he welcomed the premier’s complaint.
“The more he sues, the better, because it gives occasion for public opinion to form around the case, which will be discussed widely,” Rainsy said, saying he believed the messages had truth at their core.
“I do not have to worry, because I speak the truth.”
Long before the emergence of the leaked messages, critics had accused Sovantha of working for the benefit of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party by running a months-long campaign attacking CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha over an alleged affair.
The premier’s second son, Hun Manith, was also accused of colluding with the young social media celebrity based on a separate set of leaked messages. Sovantha said those chats, which included audio recordings, were also fabricated, while Manith, a two-star general, has not responded to the claims.
Officials at the Ministry of Defence, where he is head of intelligence, never denied the authenticity of the recordings but dismissed them as a personal matter.
Political analyst Meas Ny yesterday said the whole scandal reflected poorly, but accurately, on Cambodian politics.
“I am not surprised because, as we have witnessed for 30 years, this is the character of our politicians,” Ny said.