More than 60 parliamentarians are seeking opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s prosecution on a charge of issuing disinformation that quickened retired King Norodom Sihanouk’s decision to give up the throne, two senior National Assembly figures said Monday.
National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh and senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap both acknowledged the petition, saying that its signatories came from both parties. “We want the court to punish [Sam Rainsy] according to the law,” Cheam Yeap said. “He has endangered national security and caused the King not to return,” he said.
The charges are based on a letter from Sam Rainsy to then-King Sihanouk on Oct 6, warning of protests that were planned for the monarch’s return to Phnom Penh. The anti-King protests would be pegged on the opposition party, Sam Rainsy wrote in the letter.
The parliamentarians, along with Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Funcinpec party, have requested an investigation by the Municipal Court, said Prince Ranariddh, who is also backing that request.
If necessary, the Assembly will strip Sam Rainsy of his parliamentary immunity, allowing for prosecution, Prince Ranariddh said.
“He lied to the King,” he said.
The charge of disinformation that “is likely to disturb the public peace” carries a penalty of six months to three years imprisonment, a fine, or both, according to Article 62 of the penal code.
Sam Rainsy, who has denied the charges, is abroad but plans to return to Cambodia before the end of this month. He and other opposition members have cited last year’s anti-Thai riots as an example of protests stoked by government officials to serve a political motive. Norodom Sihanouk has not suggested publicly that Sam Rainsy’s letter affected his decision to abdicate.
As parliamentarians pursue the charge, Interior Ministry officials have dropped demands to question Sam Rainsy regarding the letter, said Sok Phal, the ministry’s national security department head.
Nor is the opposition leader facing imminent arrest, he added.
“I think there is no problem for him,” Sok Phal said.
