PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s king has pardoned Sam Rainsy, a senior figure in the opposition to long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, and he will now be free to return from self-imposed exile in France and campaign in a general election at the end of the month.
Rainsy was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2010 on charges of spreading disinformation and falsifying maps to contest a new border agreed by Cambodia and Vietnam.
US-based Human Rights Watch said at the time the charges were political and that they showed Hun Sen, in power for 28 years, was “no longer interested in even the pretence of democracy”.
In a letter to King Norodom Sihamoni requesting amnesty read out on TV yesterday, Hun Sen said his decision was based on “national reconciliation” and Rainsy’s return would ensure the election was democratic and free. Sen said Rainsy had sent a request to him on June 13 asking that he be allowed to return without fear of being thrown into prison.
“He is able to return without being arrested,” a senior lawmaker from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), Cheam Yeap said.
The party bearing Sam Rainsy’s name merged this year with two others to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party to contest election. The parliamentary committee said that made 29 lawmakers ineligible to sit for the old parties.
AFP
