Retired King Norodom Sihanouk said he could contribute $10,000 on behalf of Prince Sisowath Thomico if Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong were to sue the prince for defamation, according to Norodom Sihanouk’s controversial pen pal, Ruom Ritt.
Earlier this month, Prince Thomico declared his intention to launch a complaint against Hor Namhong to discover the fate of his parents, Prince Sisowath Methavi and Princess Nanette Methavi, the older sister of Queen Norodom Monineath.
In response, Hor Namhong warned last week that anyone seeking to launch such a complaint should be prepared to pay millions in compensation.
According to a letter from Ruom Ritt, posted on Norodom Sihanouk’s Web site and dated Saturday, the retired King said he could provide some financial backing for Prince Thomico but advised the prince to abandon his plans.
“I would be able to, at maximum, pay [$10,000] instead of Thomico,” Ruom Ritt quoted Norodom Sihanouk as saying, adding that his first priority is to provide aid to the hungry.
“I advise Thomico to no longer annoy the honorable HE Hor Namhong. Thus, he does not risk going to prison,” the retired King reportedly added.
Ruom Ritt said the retired king offered to organize religious ceremonies to honor the spirits of Prince Thomico’s parents and, with apparent sarcasm, urged other families of Khmer Rouge victims not to file individual complaints at the Khmer Rouge trial.
“I advise the families of Pol Pot Khmer Rouge victims not to address the UN-Khmer Rouge Tribunal to ask for ‘Justice,’ because none of these families will be in a position to pay very, very ‘heavy’ damages because their ‘relatives’ received from Pol Pot Khmer Rouge the ‘honor’ to be ‘chosen’ … to be tortured to death,” the retired King said, according to Ruom Ritt.
In the past, some have claimed that Norodom Sihanouk writes under the pseudonym of Ruom Ritt, but the retired King has denied such claims.