Political analyst Chhim Phal Virun on Monday filed a lawsuit against Khim Veasna, president of the League of Democracy Party, accusing him of defamation and spreading false information through Facebook.
In the lawsuit, filed with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Mr. Phal Virun demands $110,000 in compensation from Mr. Veasna, who allegedly insulted him in a public post on Facebook last week.
On July 4, the lawsuit says, Mr. Veasna posted details about a civil case between Mr. Phal Virun and an unidentified person on his Facebook page and claimed that Mr. Phal Virun had committed fraud.
“Mr. Veasna took a summons issued by the municipal court… on my civil case that even I have not seen [and] broadcast it on his Facebook [page] and broadcast it though other media,” the lawsuit reads, adding that by claiming that Mr. Phal Virun had cheated someone out of his money, Mr. Veasna had directly damaged his reputation.
Mr. Phal Virun is the director of the Institute for Civic Education and frequently appears on Bayon TV as a political commentator.
“[Mr. Phal Virun] sued [Mr. Veasna] because he affected his credibility and reputation,” Kouy Thunna, Mr. Phal Virun’s lawyer, said Monday. Mr. Phal Virun declined to comment.
Mr. Veasna on Monday denied posting anything on Facebook related to Mr. Phal Virun, and said that he believed that the lawsuit was politically motivated as he had criticized Mr. Phal Virun on the radio in the past.
“I think he wants to attack me because I strongly criticized him,” he said.
“I will file a complaint against him with the same accusation and I demand $120,000 in compensation,” Mr. Veasna said, declining to elaborate.
