Arrest fears delay critic

Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy has made a last minute retreat, canceling his return trip to Phnom Penh where he risks being jailed amid a crackdown on dissenting voices.

“Sam Rainsy has lost his parliamentary privileges, his rights and membership as a lawmaker of the National Assembly”, said the statement from the standing committee, which is dominated by lawmakers from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party.

Eng Chhay Eang, a CNRP lawmaker and member of the standing committee, told RFA’s Khmer Service that he walked out of Monday’s meeting because “it did not adhere to the constitution” in its decision regarding Sam Rainsy. He was scheduled to return late Monday evening from Korea three days after a warrant was issued for his arrest, which human rights groups say is politically motivated.

He said the advice was that “I should arrive in Phnom Penh in broad daylight and that I should also leave a few time for diplomatic intervention to materialize with the objective of reaching a peaceful solution to the recent escalation of violence in Cambodia”.

Last week, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy to carry out its 2011 conviction in absentia of the CNRP chief for “public defamation and instigation of discrimination”. The final verdict in the case was delivered in March 2013, when the Appeals Court upheld the sentence.

Hun Sen, who has held the job for more than 30 years, called him a “traitor’s son”. Officials from his party said he had delayed his return to avoid the possibility of violence.

“We call on the National Assembly to reinstate him immediately and to restore his parliamentary immunity”. “[But] we were anxious that a nightmare [scenario] could occur”.

The committee is chaired by Em Sam An, secretary of state for the Interior Ministry, which on Sunday had threatened legal activity against Sam Rainsy supporters who try to prevent authorities from implementing the arrest warrant.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters packed the streets of the capital Phnom Penh in 2013 when Mr Sam Rainsy returned from exile to fight an election campaign that his party claimed was marred by widespread vote rigging.

The opposition leader has a history of avoiding seemingly political criminal convictions by using his French passport to remain outside Cambodia, but pledged during a speech in South Korea on Saturday to return this time and face prison.

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

“In Cambodia, on the other hand, democracy is being steadily and intentionally eroded”.

“So there is no change in my plan… if I must die, let it be”, he said in comments reported by the Phnom Penh Post.

Cambodia is formally a democracy but Mr Hun Sen has dominated the country for 25 years as prime minister. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.