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Hun Sen 'hates' ex-king for rewarding his critics+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)PHNOM PENH, Jan. 31_(Kyodo) _ Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday he felt hatred for people who rewarded critics he had jailed on defamation charges, apparently alluding to former King Norodom Sihanouk. In a speech broadcast on state-run television TVK, Hun Sen said, "I hate those who presented them gifts, including those who presented the royal gifts." "Those who curse Hun Sen get the gifts from His Majesty and from others, while I, a victim, have received none," he said. "I don't want to make enemies with those who presented gifts to them, but it was too extreme." The former king is said to have given $1,000 in financial assistance to eight Hun Sen critics, including four prominent ones who were jailed and then released on bail, to help support their families amid their legal difficulties. Radio journalist Mam Sonando acknowledged he was given the cash gift a day after being released on bail on Jan. 17 along with Kem Sokha, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, his deputy Pa Nguon Teang, and Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association. All four were jailed on defamation charges after criticizing Hun Sen for signing a controversial border treaty with Vietnam last October. The premier, who has ruled Cambodia for two decades, also warned in his statement that "the more who dare curse Hun Sen, the more who will go to jail." Last week, Hun Sen said he would ask the court and his lawyers to drop defamation charges against the four critics, but on Tuesday he said the charges could not be dropped as investigations are already underway. "Suspension or withdrawal of charges are only possible before an investigation has started," he said. Other critics who have reportedly received $1,000 from the former king include opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is self-exile in France after being stripped of parliamentary immunity, convicted in absentia on defamation charges and sentenced to 18 months in jail. Donor countries including the United States have expressed concern over what they see as a concerted campaign by the Hun Sen government to neutralize its critics through targeted arrests of journalists, leaders of civil society, human rights activists, and members of the political opposition. |