Former Khmer Rouge cadre Suong Sikoeun said Monday that he has been fired from the magazine published by former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary and has been prohibited from speaking to journalists or contacting other Pol Pot loyalists.
Suong Sikoeun served as spokesman for Ieng Sary’s Democratic National Union Movement and edited its magazine, Pkar Reach (Blooming Flower).
“I met with Ieng Sary at his house in December, and he said, ‘I am withdrawing you from your position as DNUM’s magazine editor because I don’t want you to be bothered,’” Suong Sikoeun said on Monday.
Ieng Sary said Suong Sikoeun could keep his spot on DNUM’s committee, the former cadre said. “But I think he has also withdrawn my position as DNUM’s spokesman, because I was not invited to attend the last DNUM meeting,” he said.
Suong Sikoeun said the reasons for his dismissal were not fully explained, but he speculated, “I think I was withdrawn because I spoke to reporters and contacted So Hong and Tep Kunal.”
So Hong, a nephew of Pol Pot, is a former Khmer Rouge military commander. Tep Kunal was an adviser to Pol Pot and is married to Pol Pot’s former second wife.
Since his meeting with Ieng Sary, “I have been prohibited to talk to reporters or contact So Hong and Tep Kunal” by others in the movement, Suong Sikoeun said. “Why can’t I contact them? They are my friends and former colleagues. If I am prohibited to speak, it is like the Khmer Rouge regime,” he added.
Suong Sikoeun said he recently completed a PhD thesis on the Khmer Rouge at a French university but cannot afford to return to France to defend his thesis.
“I was an adviser to Pol Pot, and I used to talk to [Brother No 2] Nuon Chea, [KR prime minister] Khieu Samphan and other leaders,” he said. “I wrote what I knew from talking to them during the Khmer Rouge regime and after the regime was toppled.”
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