Seng Theary criticizes Hun Sen’s political interference in the KRT

22 March 2009
By San Suwidh
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Seng Theary, Director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), considers the recent declaration made by PM Hun Sen in regards to the number of suspects to be charged by the KR Tribunal (KRT) as a political interference.
Seng Theary said: “Now we can see that the KRT has charged only 5 individuals, as for the PM, I think that his action is illegal because he cannot interfere with the court system which must remain independent. He raised the issue that there should be no more than 5 persons being charged [by the KRT], this is political interference, however, the court must remain independent.”

Following the alleged corruption perpetrated by the KRT employees, a report indicated that employees had to pay salary kickbacks to their bosses in order to keep their jobs. Furthermore, regarding the claim that Hun Sen interferes in the KRT, Hun Sen angrily replied to this charge by saying that the UN should be the first one to be brought to court because it always supported the KR.

Hun Sen declared: “If there was no 07 January, there would be no today either, there would not be any human rights to come and make all these claims. The human rights chief, they were rice thieves [under Pol Pot], they are 100-cow puppets, at that time [Pol Pot era], they bowed their heads to Ah Pot [Pol Pot: then-Hun Sen’s boss], they carried the dirt in the country also. They never talked about human rights during that time (Pol Pot era) because a number of groups knew that Pol Pot killed people between 75 to 79, so why do they support Pol Pot until 1993? If they did not know, they are not at fault, but if they knew and they still get involved with it, then their sentence should be even more serious than Ah Pot. If there is a judgment, the UN should be sentenced first, the UN itself should be sentenced, including all those countries that supported Pol Pot at the UN between 1979 and 1991. Now you are proud to judge this and that, nonstop. I just saw the declaration, I received the report, this issue must end. It must stop! This person is this, that person is that, how can there be so many issues? We judged them [KR leaders] in 1979, but you do not recognize it and you want to continue. With the new judgment, it is so complicated and it costs several hundreds of millions.”

The above statement made by Hun Sen clearly shows that the government is interfering with the independence of the KRT.