Court refuses to deal with corruption lawsuit against Ranariddh (2005-Jun-30)
         K.I. : In a 28 June 2005 decision issued by Deputy Prosecutor Nget Sarat, the Phnom Penh Municipality Court shelved the lawsuit filed by opposition leader Sam Rainsy against National Assembly President Norodom Ranariddh for corruption in relation to a $14-million scandal in the construction of the Assembly’s new premises. This latest judicial decision follows the Court's decisions on 12 January 2005 (Phnom Penh Municipality Court) and 13 June 2005 (Appeals Court) to reject a different lawsuit filed by Sam Rainsy against Prime Minister Hun Sen for murder in relation to a deadly terrorist act (grenade attack). Meanwhile, the Court continues to pursue lawsuits that both Hun Sen and Norodom Ranariddh have filed against Sam Rainsy for defamation. Cambodia's judiciary obviously shows double standard that bodes ill for the to-be-formed Khmer Rouge tribunal.
         See English translation of L’Express's article elaborating on Ranariddh’s corruption at http://www. khmerintelligence.org /050620LExpress5.htm

Sihanouk fears assassination attempt (2005-Jun-25)
King-Father airs bitterness from Phnom Penh
         Samngatki : In at least two writings in French posted on his Web site since he came back to Cambodia on 22 June 2005, King-Father Norodom Sihanouk airs bitterness and dissatisfaction about the current situation in the country. The two writings we have translated into English and titled "I may die of unnatural death" and "The Vietnamese have swallowed a large portion of our lands", can be found at http://www .khmerintelligence .org/KingFatherEnglishVersion2.htm

           N.P. : One now knows why the prince has turned down Hun Sen's offer of government plane and preferred a Chinese commercial flight to return to Cambodia.

Cheam Channy = Khmer Aung San Suu Kyi (2005-Jun-23) EU delegation visits Cheam Channy in prison     Khmerintelligence.org : Today, a European Union delegation made up of representatives from the four EU member countries having an embassy in Cambodia (United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland) paid a visit to opposition parliamentarian Cheam Channy, who has been detained at the Phnom Penh military prison since 3 February 2005. [ N.B. : Hun Sen wants to do with Cheam Channy what he failed to achieve with Sok Yoeun ] In a 10 March 2005 Resolution, the European Parliament “calls upon the government of Cambodia to immediately and unconditionally release Cheam Channy.”

European Commission pledges US$65.8 million to fight poverty in Cambodia (2005-Jun-21)
         PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The European Commission pledged US$65.8 million (54.3 million) on Tuesday to help improve the livelihoods of rural people in Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries. Nearly half of the money will be used for projects to upgrade road and irrigation systems for agriculture in three of Cambodia's northwestern provinces, said Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. The remaining US$35.5 million (29.3 million) will be used to support the social sector and improve good governance in Cambodia, according to a joint statement. It said the fight against corruption and public administration reform are "priorities to enhance economic development and the rule of law" in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. The agreement was signed after a meeting Tuesday between Hor Namhong and Fokion Fotiadis, the external relations director for Asia for the European Commission - the executive arm of the European Union. The Cambodian government is aiming to attract as much aid as possible "to build irrigation systems to cope with the drought we have been experiencing," Hor Namhong said. About 85 percent of Cambodia's 13 million people live in the countryside. Most depend on farming and have suffered through several successive years of drought. External aid has played a key role in the economic development of Cambodia, where some 43 percent of its population live on US$1 (0.8) or  less per day. However, donors - who have given Cambodian an average US$500 million (412 million) every year - have pressured the government to curb corruption that has become widespread in recent years. [Copyright 2005 The Associated Press]

20 Morts, 142 Blessés (2005-Jun-15)   Scène de l'attaque aux grenades du 30 mars 1997 devant l'Assemblée nationale à Phnom Penh. Aucun rapport de police n'a été fait. La Cour municipale et la Cour d'appel ont successivement rejeté l'accusation de Sam Rainsy qui montrait du doigt Hun Sèn. [ Lire les 2 articles en bas ]

Grenade attack: SRP will go to the Supreme Court (2005-Jun-14)          OPPOSITION FINDS APPEAL COURT IN CONTEMPT OF JUSTICE - The Opposition parliamentarians were not surprised that the Appeal Court yesterday withheld the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision to dismiss the Opposition leader’s lawsuit against the Prime Minister for his role behind the March 1997 grenade attack that killed up to 20 people and injured more a hundred. It has affirmed a general belief that the court is not capable of acting impartially and independently.          The Court and the authority have no intention of conducting a proper investigation or trial. There has been no official investigation or report on the incident in question. The prosecutor has done absolutely nothing besides producing a denial by the defendant of any wrong doing, taking statements from some of the witnesses for the plaintiff, and expecting the plaintiff to come up with evidence. And they summarily decide the court has not sufficient evidence to proceed to a trial.          The Opposition parliamentarians have no option but to announce that the Opposition leader will take the case to the Supreme Court, and optimistically hope the top judiciary will help improve credibility of the court system as a whole.          SRP Parliamentarians

Le procureur étonne Ronald Abney (2004-Déc-02 , Reprise)            Koh Santepheap : Dans la matinée du 1er décembre, M. Ron Abney, directeur de l'Institut Républicain International (IRI), s'est présenté devant le procureur du roi-adjoint du tribunal de Phnom Penh, M. Yet Chariya. À l'issue de cette comparution, M. Abney dit à la presse : "Je suis ici en tant que victime et témoin de l'attaque aux grenades du 30 mars 1997, événement dont M. Sam Rainsy a accusé le premier ministre Hun Sèn d'être le commanditaire. Je suis étonné que le procureur-adjoint ne m'a pas considéré comme témoin. Il m'a demandé de rédiger un dernier rapport détaillé et de le lui envoyer ultérieurement. J'ai apporté aussi la facture de l'opération chirurgicale qui m'a guéri des éclats de grenade."            M. Abney nous a ensuite raconté l'événement : "J'étais debout devant les manifestants. J'ai vu et entendu M. Sam Rainsy prendre la parole et les manifestants crier des slogans et brandir des pancartes réclamant la réforme de l'appareil judiciaire et dénonçant sa corruption. Dans le cortège vers l'Assemblée nationale, je marchais et restais à côté de M. Sam Rainsy.

Nous remarquions des militaires qu'on savait être des gardes du corps du premier ministre Hun Sèn. J'ai alors dit à M. Sam Rainsy que c'était la première fois que des policiers et des militaires encerclaient les manifestants. Ensuite j'étais derrière le cortège, suivant ce dernier dans ma voiture. Arrivé à l'Assemblée nationale, je descendais de l'automobile et me tenais devant le bâtiment, face à la foule de manifestants qui criaient des slogans. Quand des officiels du Parti Sam Rainsy traversaient la rue pour accueillir leur chef, la première grenade éclata et je fus tombé au sol. D'autres explosions se faisaient entendre et des gens tombaient, tués ou blessés. Quand j'étais à terre, j'essayais de me relever mais ne pouvais pas. J'avais l'impression que quelque chose, un débris de verre ou un caillou, m'a atteint. Je me tâtais avec mes mains et j'ai vu que je saignais et que mon pantalon était déchiré. J'essayais de ramper pour traverser la rue et pendant ces quelque trente secondes d'autres grenades explosaient l'une après l'autre.

Ronald Abney

           Deux amis m'aidaient à me relever. Debout, j'ai vu des gens courir vers l'entité soupçonnée être un bureau du premier ministre. Les militaires qui auparavant encerclaient les manifestants ont laissé passer quelques hommes mais empêchaient la foule paniquée de quitter les lieux. Quand les secours arrivaient, je fus transporté à la clinique SOS sur le boulevard Mao Tsé Toung, puis par avion à Singapour. Aujourd'hui ça fait donc plus de sept ans que ces attaques ont eu lieu. Entre-temps, une équipe du FBI est venue enquêter, dessiner des portraits-robots, rassembler des preuves et des rapports divers. Le gouvernement, quant à lui, reste silencieux, les coupables ne sont pas arrêtés. J'ai répondu au FBI et je dois retourner encore une fois au Cambodge. Le procureur m'a demandé si j'ai des réclamations à faire. Je demande seulement que les coupables soient arrêtés et jugés, le FBI a déjà fourni au gouvernement tous les éléments du dossier. Justice doit être faite aux 16 victimes. [ PHOTO    RADIO FREE ASIA ]

Cambodia PM opposes private funds for genocide trial (2005-Jun-09)          By Ek Madra, Reuters : PHNOM PENH, June 8 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday relatives of the 1.7 million people who died under the Khmer Rouge should not be paying for genocide trials, fuelling concern that he did not want them to take place. Opposition members of parliament and ordinary people have proposed private donations to make up the more than $10 million shortfall in the projected $56.3 million budget required to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths. But Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier albeit with no links to any  atrocities, said Cambodians would do much better to spend the money on themselves in a country where a third of the population lives on less than $1 per day.

"I think Cambodians should keep that money to support themselves rather  than giving it for the court to try the Khmer Rouge," Hun Sen told reporters. "Or they could spend the money to buy food and make offerings to the spirits of their parents who were brutally killed by Pol Pot's group. That is better," he said. The United Nations has already pledged $38 million for the court, which will try those deemed "most responsible" for atrocities committed under the ultra-Maoist administration led by Pol Pot from 1975 to 1979. An estimated 1.7 million people, or nearly a third of the population, were executed or died of starvation, disease or overwork as the regime's dream of a peasant utopia turned into the nightmare of the "Killing Fields". Under an agreement with the U.N., deeply impoverished Cambodia will pay $13.2 million towards the cost of the trial, prompting Phnom Penh to go cap in hand once again to foreign governments. Hun Sen's opposition to private donations dismayed analysts.

"Businessmen want to contribute cash and the opposition has called for fund raising. This means the government is opposing the will of the victims," said Thun Saray, head of human rights group ADHOC. "The budget shortfall is an excuse for the government not to put the Khmer Rouge on trial," he said. The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) said Cambodia's 13 million citizens should be given the chance to make private contributions to a trial which will hopefully bring to a close one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century. "They are not rich, but Khmer people inside and outside the country can manage one dollar per head to kick start a trial that means so much to them," the SRP said in a statement. No Khmer Rouge leader has faced justice for the atrocities, and critics fear that many of them will die before the legal process ends. [Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited]

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