Cambodian opposition lawmaker found guilty of defaming premier

Aug 4, 2009, 10:36 GMT

   Phnom Penh - A Cambodian court Tuesday ordered an opposition lawmaker to pay 16.5 million riel (4,125 dollars) in fines and damages after she was found guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, prompting rights groups to claim to the government is using the courts to silence critics.

   Judges at Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruled that Mu Sochua, a National Assembly member for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), defamed Hun Sen when she attempted to sue him over comments he made during a local election campaign in April.

   Mu Sochua told reporters outside the court that the court's ruling was 'a dark day for justice.'

   'I did not expect justice today and I did not receive it,' she said.

   Mu Sochua filed a defamation suit against the premier after he referred to an unnamed women as a 'strong leg' - a derogatory term in Khmer culture - during a speech in April, but judges dismissed the case before it reached court.

   Hun Sen launched a countersuit, claiming Mu Sochua's actions constituted defamation.

   The National Assembly voted in June to strip Mu Sochua and fellow SRP lawmaker Ho Vann of their parliamentary immunity.

   Ho Vann is facing charges of misinformation, and if convicted, could be sentenced to three years in prison.

   Mu Sochua, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for her efforts to stop human trafficking, was forced to represent herself in court after her lawyer was reportedly pressured to drop her case and join Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.

   Judges ordered her to pay 8 million riel in damages to Hun Sen and another 8 million riel to the state.

   The Cambodian League for the Defense and Protection of Human Rights condemned the ruling, describing it as 'a significant blow to freedom of expression.'

   'For daring to try to file a complaint against the prime minister, Mu Sochua has herself been dragged to court and convicted of defamation in a grossly unfair trial,' the group's director, Naly Pilorge, said.

   'This morning's verdict was predictably unjust, and shows yet again how the courts are controlled by the government and used as a weapon against its political opponents.'

   Naly Pilorge said the court was required by law to announce the verdict in public, but journalists and rights groups were barred from the hearing.

   Rights groups said anti-riot police injured several demonstrators when they broke up a SRP-led march after the verdict was announced.

   In June, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia expressed concern over a spate of defamation and disinformation suits against opposition leaders, rights groups and journalists, saying the cases put freedom of expression at risk.