Cambodian political party condemn's prince's adultery charge

Mar 19, 2007, 9:23 GMT

Phnom Penh - The political party led by Cambodian prince Norodom Ranariddh Monday condemned the decision to charge him with adultery as a calculated political act a week ahead of important nationwide commune elections.

Spokesman for the prince's new Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), Muth Chantha, said the decision by Phnom Penh Municipal Court to charge him under the new law Sunday was unfair, illegal and an attempt to further hobble his party in the April 1 elections.

'This charge is at the wrong time. This is during campaign time for the commune elections,' Chantha said by telephone. 'There is a real political motive here.'

'Is this rule just for the prince or for everyone?'

Court officials said the charge followed a complaint by the prince's estranged wife and senior government minister, Princess Norodom Marie. No date for a hearing has yet been set.

Ranariddh has been openly living with classical dancer Ouk Phalla in Europe for a number of years and the pair have a 3-year-old son. Analysts speculated at the time the law to criminalize adultery was passed late last year that it was aimed specifically at Ranariddh, which the government denied.

The government has also denied any political motives and says it does not control when the court charges anyone or with what.

Chantha claimed that the charge against Ranariddh was illegal as it was retrospective of the law and also challenged the legality of Princess Marie's marriage to Ranariddh.

'They were married before 1970. They never renewed the paperwork after (the fall of the Khmer Rouge in) 1979 so according to the law there is no current union,' he said.

The adultery charge carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. Ranariddh is the first person to be charged with the offence since it was passed.

The charge follows Ranariddh's sentencing to 18 months in jail in absentia last week on embezzlement charges over the 3.6 million dollar sale of his former Funcinpec Party's headquarters.

Ranariddh's fall from grace has been swift since he resigned as National Assembly chief last year. He was then ousted by his own royalist Funcinpec party in October, and since starting the NRP party has been assailed with law suits.

Currently in France, Ranariddh himself has also denounced the legal charges in local media as an attempt to discredit him politically.

The commune elections are expected to be won handsomely by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which currently maintains a coalition government with Funcinpec.