Exiled-Cambodian dissident Sam Serey has been pardoned after declaring the dissolution of his decade-old organization, Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF), labeled a “terrorist group” with an alleged aim of “bringing down the government”.
A royal pardon was issued on April 6, signed by acting head of state Hun Sen as the King was in Beijing at the time, after Serey sent a conciliatory letter which was posted on his Facebook page.
In his letter, he sought amnesty from Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet, while declaring the dissolution of KNLF, which he founded in 2012, an exile-government movement established to oppose Hun Sen’s government.
“I, Sam Serey, request for a pardon to facilitate my return to Cambodia. I declare a complete dissolution of the Khmer National Liberation Front, an exile-government [movement] under my leadership,” read the post.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona confirmed that a pardon was granted as Serey admitted wrongdoing and declared the dissolution of his organization.
“This is the strength and virtue of the leadership of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP],” Bona said.
He said despite the gravity of his mistake in the past, the government, led by CPP, upholds the “principle of tolerance” to promote national unity and solidarity among the Khmer people.
He cited the success of the Win-Win Policy, which had achieved the reintegration of former Khmer Rouge supporters into the government.
In separate verdicts delivered in absentia 2014, 2016, and March 2020, Serey was sentenced to nine years for each case. In a subsequent ruling in November 2020, he was handed down an eight-year sentence, followed by two additional prison terms in July 2022 — one of 18 months and another, eight years.
He sought refuge in Denmark where he was granted asylum in 2011.
Serey’s KNLF was accused of plotting to bring down the Cambodian government, he told the defunct-media outlet the Cambodia Daily in 2017, adding that his father was a member of Khmer People’s National Liberation Front founded in 1979 to protest against the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.
His group was accused of terrorist activity, and behind the planting of bombs in Phnom Penh — one near the Vietnamese Friendship stupa in 2007 and in 2009 near the National Defense Ministry, linking it to another movement, Khmer Serey or Free Khmer, and Tiger Head Movement, a shadowy anti-government movement — but Serey denied the bomb plots.
In the aftermath of the bombings, a dozen members were arrested and sentenced to jail, including the head of Tiger Head Sam Ek.
To be sure, KNLF is not the first group labeled as a terrorist organization by the government.
Ruling CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan declined to comment on whether Sam Serey will join the government.
Serey told CamboJA News via Facebook Messenger that he is going to return to Cambodia and go to Angkor Wat to participate in the Khmer New Year prayers.
“I am assured by the acting head of state, Samdech Hun Sen, who is the current Senate president, regarding my safety. I hope that I will be fine,” he said.
“I hope my members, who are imprisoned, will be released when I am back in Cambodia,” Serey said.
Cambodia Institute for Democracy president Pa Chanroeun applauded the decision and wanted to see political space expanded.
“When a political leader is granted a pardon via political settlement, individuals who follow or believe in a leader, or any political group that has been persecuted due to their beliefs and political actions, and are currently imprisoned, must be immediately granted the necessary measures for their release and have their freedom fully restored,” Chanroeun said.
