Man Accused of Forging Diary Flees to Holland

The Sam Rainsy Party activist accused of faking slain actress Piseth Pilika’s diaries has fled to Holland, party officials said Thurs­­­day.

Sar Sophan, the party’s Bang­kok office head, feared for his life, party General Secretary Eng Chhay Eang said, and left Thai­land Wednesday with the help of the UN’s human rights office.

“He dares not come back [to Cambodia] because of his security,” Eng Chhay Eang said.

Sar Sophan was accused in 1999 by an anonymous letter writer of fabricating Piseth Pili­ka’s journal, which was the basis of a French magazine article im­plicating Prime Minister Hun Sen’s wife, Bun Rany, in the ac­tress’s murder. The letter was fax­ed to news agencies.

Sar Sophan was also arrested in late 1999 and spent six months in a Thai prison for offering re­fuge to Sok Yoeun, the opposition party man who fled to Thailand after being accused of masterminding the 1998 Siem Reap rocket attack that the government calls an attempt on Hun Sen’s life.

Sok Yoeun remains in a Thai prison while the Cambodian government is arguing for extradition. His family and two other men arrested in connection with the rocket attack have already left for third countries with the UN’s help.

Eleven other Cambodians, some of whom were opposition party members, also left Wed­nesday for Holland under the UN’s protection, Sam Rainsy Party official Oum Sara said. (Additional reporting by The As­sociated Press)