Ex-SRP Senator given ministry job post-pardon
THAK Lany, a former Senator for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) who has recently returned to the Kingdom after receiving a royal pardon, has been appointed as secretary of state for the Ministry of National AssemblySenate Relations and Inspections.
The appointment was made official in a royal decree singed by King Norodom Sihamoni on June 12.
Lany received a royal pardon in March this year following a request from Prime Minister Hun Sen. The pardon came four years after she fled Cambodia to avoid serving her sentence for a criminal conviction.
Back in November 2016, she was convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for defamation and incitement to cause social chaos.
The case stemmed from her comments made in a public forum in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district, where she accused Prime Minister
Hun Sen of orchestrating the murder of political analyst Kem Ley who was shot dead on July 10, 2016.
The Appeal Court and Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2017 and 2018, respectively.