Cambodia opposition chief delays return over arrest fears

By AFP
17 November 2015
Cambodia opposition chief delays return over arrest fears
Sam Rainsy, President of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), arrives at the National Assembly during a plenary session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 09 April 2015. Photo: Mak Remissa/EPA

Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Monday cancelled a planned return to the kingdom fearing arrest, in a case critics say has been driven through by the country's strongman premier.
Rainsy faces an arrest warrant over an unserved two-year sentence for defamation.
He has also been removed from parliament in a shock move by Hun Sen's ruling party that on Monday earned a rebuke from the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Rainsy's supporters say the warrant was issued after political pressure by Hun Sen, who is renowned for tying-up his opponents in legal cases during a three-decade rule.
Rainsy, who is currently visiting South Korea, was sentenced in 2011 for accusing the foreign minister of being a former member of the brutal Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979.
He was due to arrive at Phnom Penh's airport on Monday night but took to his Facebook page to announce a delay.
"I will be back in Cambodia in the next few days," he said, explaining he wants to arrive in "broad daylight" after supporters urged him to delay his return.
Earlier, a national police spokesman KirtChantharith told AFP officers were ready to execute the arrest warrant for Rainsy, raising fears of clashes with his supporters.
"We must arrest him. It is the duty of police," he added. 
In a statement, Cambodia's parliament also said the opposition chief automatically lost his status as a lawmaker after the warrant was issued -- and with it immunity from arrest.
That prompted the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh to call for the warrant to be withdrawn and for Rainsy to be re-instated to parliament.
"We are deeply concerned" by the removal of Rainsy from the National Assembly, the Embassy said in statement.
Calling the actions "the latest incidents of harassment and intimidation of Cambodia's opposition", the statement urged Hun Sen's government to guarantee a free "political space".
The opposition chief is Hun Sen's main rival and was in self-exile at the time of the sentence as he also faced a string of other convictions he claimed were trumped-up.
Rainsy only returned to Cambodia ahead of the flawed 2013 elections, after receiving a royal pardon for the sentences against him. 
According to Human Rights Watch, the 2011 defamation case was not mentioned in the pardon.
Last week Rainsy urged the international community to pressure Hun Sen for full democratisation during a trip to Japan in comments inspired by the historic vote in Myanmar.
In response, Hun Sen threatened a separate legal action over those remarks.
A day later the warrant was issued for his arrest.
© AFP