Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association

Candlelight Leader Rong Chhun Postpones Mass Protest After Hun Sen Threatens To Arrest Him

Rong Chhun marches with other activists from Phnom Penh to Pursat province calling for the release of political prisoners. February 1, 2023. (CamboJA/Pring Samrang)
Rong Chhun marches with other activists from Phnom Penh to Pursat province calling for the release of political prisoners. February 1, 2023. (CamboJA/Pring Samrang)

Opposition Candlelight Party’s Vice President Rong Chhun postponed the mass rally he had planned for this weekend to protest his party’s disqualification from the July elections. 

“Party leaders have decided to postpone [rally] that we have planned this weekend, because we have not enough time to prepare 10,000 participants,” he told CamboJA on Friday afternoon, after Hun Sen repeated warnings of Chhun’s arrest.

Chhun announced in a May 29 interview on VOA that he would gather 10,000 Candlelight supporters at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park to protest the National Election Committee’s rejection of the leading opposition party’s registration, upheld by the Constitutional Council last week. 

Yet as of Friday afternoon party leaders had not yet submitted a letter to the Phnom Penh municipal authorities requesting permission to assemble in peaceful protest, he told CamboJA.

Candlelight spokesperson Kimsour Pheairth could not be reached for comment.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has threatened to arrest and imprison anybody who publicly protests against Candlelight’s disqualification, but Chhun claimed the rally’s postponement was due to bureaucratic measures.

“The prime minister has just mentioned that if we do [the rally] without permission from authorities, he will take [legal] measures but usually, when we do something, we have to inform [authorities] by following a procedure of non-violence,” Chhun said. “If authorities have rejected [our request to assemble], we will take a step back, and further discuss alternative ways we will go forward.”

During a bridge inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, Hun Sen said that he would arrest Chhun and his supporters if they protested. He also promised to fire rockets at opposition figure Sam Rainsy if he attempted to enter the country. 

“Whoever destroys the stability in Cambodia, whether at national or subnational level, will be caught, it is your fault [Candlelight], how dare you destroy stability and peace?” Hun Sen said. 

Chhun, a longtime labor rights activist and ardent anti-Vietnamese nationalist, was sentenced to two years in prison on incitement charges in August 2021 for comments about the politically sensitive topic of the Vietnamese border. He was released in November that year, after serving 15 months including pre-trial detention following a 2020 arrest.

Chhun announced his support for Candlelight in late January and became a party Vice President during the party’s February congress.

“In Phnom Penh there is one person who is extremist and continues to promote endless chaos,” Hun Sen continued in his speech, referring to Chhun. “I will welcome you in jail again if you dare to protest, if the Interior Ministry and City Hall do not allow it and you still do it.” 

Hun Sen extended the threat to all of Candlelight’s supporters who were thinking of participating.

“Brothers and sisters do not be deceived to die or go to jail because of them [Candlelight]  because it is [Candlelight] fault,” Hun Sen said. “As Prime Minister of the country, I have the right to manage the stability of 17 million people and for other parties but not for your own party alone.” 

Hun Sen also repeatedly stated that Chhun should settle down to raise a family.

“What a pervert, why always protest?” Hun Sen. “Look at how the protests were extinguished, how many decades have you been the boss of the protesting, it is enough for you [Rong Chun] to get a wife, you are an old man and should be married, at least you can have children to continue the protests.” 

NEC spokesperson Hang Puthea downplayed the threats of arrest made against the leader of an opposition party for gathering supporters.

“It isn’t under the jurisdiction of the NEC,” Puthea said. “Provoking disturbances of public security is the duty of authorities [police].”

He added that Candlelight had already been disqualified following the legal processes and nothing would change if the party did hold a rally.

“In these circumstances, it can’t happen [the party’s participation in July elections] because the application of this political party and its candidates is now over,” he said. “If the party itself wants to join the election, they can wait until the next election.”

He did not elaborate on how the party could participate without resolving the issue without its missing 1998 Interior Ministry registration document.

Ministry of Interior spokesperson Kiev Sopheak could not be reached for comment. 

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