The Interior Ministry has asked Interpol to help arrest a “Cambodian living abroad” it believes is responsible for doctoring and circulating an image of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s wife, according to a ministry spokesman.
The altered image, which appeared on Facebook late last month, shows Mr. Hun Sen’s wife, Bun Rany, standing with her legs spread apart while posing for a family photograph during a trip to Sihanoukville.
In a post to his personal Facebook page on December 31, the prime minister decried the image, sharing a screenshot of the doctored photo and the Facebook page where he said it had originated.
In the screenshot, a user named “Haknuman Leung” wrote: “What!! Cambodia’s First Lady stands like that for photograph!! Such a bad example for Cambodian women! [Te]cho look at your wife!!”
“All actions that ruin my honor and my family’s honor, as a prime minister of a country, those [responsible] must be responsible before the law,” Mr. Hun Sen said in his post, accusing opposition activists of photoshopping the image.
The CNRP has denied any involvement.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said on Tuesday that authorities were investigating the image and had sought the assistance of Interpol, as police believed the suspect lived outside the country.
“We are working with Interpol to issue the Red Notice for that guy,” General Sopheak said. “They have received our proposal already.”
Gen. Sopheak said he was only allowed to say that the suspect was a “Cambodian living abroad” and declined to answer additional questions.
A local news report earlier this week stated that Gen. Sopheak said the Interior Ministry had contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the case. On Tuesday, he said the ministry had not contacted the U.S. agency, and that he had been misquoted.
Lim Sokha Raksmey, the director of Cambodia’s Interpol office, declined to comment on the case.
