The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has agreed to Cambodia’s request for greater assistance as it attempts to “crack down” on U.S.-based dissidents, according to the National Police Commissariat website.
A delegation led by National Police Chief Neth Savoeun returned Saturday from a three-day visit to the FBI headquarters in Washington, where they met director James Comey and toured the agency’s high-tech facilities.
“In the meeting, [General Savoeun] asked for the FBI’s cooperation in the case of Cambodian-American suspects who have created an anti-government movement and said Cambodia would provide all relevant documents to help with the crackdown,” says the report, posted Monday.
“This request was accepted by the FBI’s high command.”
Mr. Savoeun’s visit to the U.S. came less than a week before the trial of Sourn Serey Ratha—the self-exiled leader of the dissident Khmer People Power Movement now living in the U.S.—begins on July 9 at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
The incitement charges against Mr. Ratha date back to August, when he allegedly instructed four people to distribute hundreds of leaflets urging Cambodians to overthrow the government.
On Monday, Mr. Ratha, whose organization operates out of Dallas, Texas, led his own delegation to Washington for a series of meetings with U.S. officials, including members of Congress, senators and government advisers, focusing on the “Freedom, Rights and Political Liberty of Cambodia,” according to a press release.
The KPPM has also been lobbying its own case against the CPP government in U.S. courts. Last week, it sent a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court accusing the CPP of insidiously spreading communism in the country.
“I request the Supreme Court of the United State [sic] of America take action to investigate the action of the Cambodian People Party which is now expanding its efforts and influence as a communist presence in the U.S.,” says the letter from the KPPM dated July 1.
