Sam Rainsy Party activists are being threatened in Battambang’s Samlot district, with soldiers allegedly telling party members they will be killed if they try to hold a seminar in the months before the country’s first commune elections, an opposition lawmaker said.
National Assembly member Lon Phon, who recently visited Samlot, said three Sam Rainsy Party signs were also torn down on June 12 and two homes belonging to opposition party commune candidate Num Houn have been burned down.
However, Military Region 5 commander Bun Seng said Monday that he has not heard of intimidation against Sam Rainsy Party members because of the upcoming commune elections, scheduled to take place next February.
“I don’t think it happened like that,” Bun Seng said. “RCAF soldiers have no principles to work for a political party. Soldiers have to stay neutral and serve the people.”
A complaint has been sent to the Battambang provincial police and one will also be filed at the Interior Ministry, Lon Phon said. Despite the threats, the Sam Rainsy Party will continue to do its work on election training because the information the party is distributing has never been received before by the people in Samlot, Lon Phon said.
Samlot is the home of former Khmer Rouge soldiers and many Funcinpec soldiers who fled to the border area after the July 1997 factional fighting.
Troops loyal to then-Second Prime Minister Hun Sen battled with soldiers belonging to Prince Norodom Ranariddh for more than a year.
“Our complaint will probably be ignored but we will continue to do our work,” Lon Phon said.
Lon Phon himself is no stranger to intimidation. He was kidnapped in October 1999 and held for three days before he was released, but only after a $140,000 ransom was paid. His case has not yet been solved.
