April 25, 2011
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday sentenced the exiled opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, in absentia to 2 years in jail and fined 2,000 U.S. dollars for public defamation and inciting discrimination, according to the verdict.
The charges were brought under the new criminal code and stem from comments that Sam Rainsy, president of the Sam Rainsy Party, made the speech on April 17, 2008, saying that the current Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, minister of foreign affairs, was formerly the chief of Boeung Trabek prison in the Khmer Rouge regime.
"Sam Rainsy's claims are groundless and incite discrimination against government officials," said the verdict read by the presiding judge Seng Neang on Monday.
"The verdict is just and brings cleanness to my client," Ka Savuth, the lawyer for Hor Namhong, told reporters after the verdict announcement.
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