Kandal provincial court prosecutor summoned nine opposition parties officials, including Candlelight President Teav Vannol and Senator Sok Hach of Khmer Will Party to be questioned for alleged breach of trust. It is in connection with a disagreement over a candidate list’s rank number during the May provincial, municipal and district council level elections.
Provincial court spokesperson Kha Denna confirmed that deputy prosecutor Va Sakada summoned them for questioning but said the case was still under investigation.
A lawsuit was brought by a former party official, Khin Yoeun, who filed a complaint with the court in early May, accusing three senior opposition party officials, Teav Vannol, Sok Hach and Kimsour Phirith, said Kandal Candlelight Party chief Chan Thoul.
The other six provincial party officials comprise Tol Prasat and Chhoy Sothon, who are incumbent provincial councilors from Khmer Will Party, and Cheng Sothon, Ban Ratana, Chan Chang, and Rin Rany.
They were all accused of breach of trust.
So far, seven of the names on the summons have been questioned by the prosecutor, Thoul said. Vannol requested a postponement as he was abroad seeking treatment while Hack enjoyed the right of immunity as a senator.
According to Thoul, former comrade Khin Yoeun wanted to stand at rank number five of the candidate list but the party refused, placing him in seventh rank for the provincial and municipal council election.
“He was just a newcomer, he didn’t have much qualifications […] and only did a little [work for the party],” he said.
Those who qualified were prioritized to stand at the top as a candidate because they actively contributed to party work, and dedicated physical and financial resources to the party.
“I believe that there is someone behind this complaint to sue party leaders to destroy their reputation,” Thoul said.
He said Yoeun and Ratan had joined Candlelight in 2022, but both defected to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) a few months ago.
Plaintiff Yoeun, and Ratan, could not be reached for comment.
Provincial councilor Tol Prasat told CamboJA News that he appeared in court about two months ago, with regards to a complaint made by his comrade, and was allowed to return home after being questioned by the prosecutor.
“I am not much concerned because it was a personal issue. Khin Yoeun was dissatisfied in the preparation of the candidate list for the provincial/municipal council elections,” he said.
“I heard there were some [people] who encouraged him [to file a lawsuit] […] the complaint is aimed at confusing the citizens [to support the party],” Prasat said.
The provincial, municipal and district council elections were held on May 26, 2024, for the fourth mandate, which saw the election of roughly 4,000 councilors. The results showed that the opposition Khmer Will Party, bagged 47 provincial council seats and 312 seats in the municipal/district councils. Ruling CPP won 504 provincial council seats and 3,257 municipal/district council seats.
The incumbent council for CPP had 9,376 voters, Khmer Will Party – 2,198 voters, including leaders from Candlelight Party, while royalist party Funcinpec had 19 voters and Khmer United National Party (11 voters).
Candlelight Party secretary-general Ly Sothearayuth said the lawsuit against their top leaders was “unreasonable and unfair”, noting that the party’s leaders have decentralized power to provincial party levels to make decisions to draw up qualified candidate lists for council elections.
“We think that the complaint is coming from that person who was offended. It is unfair to the party [to show] his personal dissatisfaction by suing [them],” he said.
Meanwhile, at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, UK Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders raised concerns during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia over the use of “judiciary” to silence political and human rights actors, as well as journalists.
Khmer Will Party secretary-general Kong Monika echoed the international community’s statement over the use of legal means to obstruct the opposition party.
“I think the opposition party always faces challenges and complaints. It is very difficult for us to implement our political activity,” he said.
Meanwhile, CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan said the summons was an internal matter of the opposition, thus it did not involve his party.
“We are not interfering with the issue because it is their internal affair. But they [Yoeun and Ratan] joined the Cambodian People’s Party which we welcome as it is in respect of their political rights [to do politics]” he said.
He criticized international communities for accusing the government of using the judiciary to silence opposition and civil society organization actors, noting that the freedom of expression in Cambodia was different from the United Kingdom and United States.
“There is a boundary in Cambodia. If you violate the honor, dignity and people’s rights, you will be sued by the victims, you can’t avoid it,” Eysan said.
NGO rights group Adhoc president Ny Sokha called on the government to restore the current situation relating to freedom of expression, deteriorating human rights and democracy.
“If we continue to use [legal] means to punish politicians and social activists, I think that is not a good picture for Cambodia,” he said.
“When they hear that our country restricts and violates human rights, I believe that Cambodia would not have a good reputation,” he added.
He remarked that the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council criticized the government for failing to respect human rights and democracy, which has impacted investments.
In July this year, Candlelight’s Vannol was found guilty of defamation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in compensation to the government.
Senator Sok Hach and Kimsour Phirith could not be reached for comment.
