Cambodia's Rainsy: Prisoners only freed if deal inked

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AA) - In early December, representatives from Cambodia’s opposition party had said they were close to securing the release of four human rights workers, a commune leader and an election official from prison, and that this would likely be completed before the end of the year.

The six all became ensnared in an investigation launched after conversations between Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) deputy leader Kem Sokha and his mistress were leaked last year.

Four staff from local rights group Adhoc, as well as the deputy-secretary of the National Election Committee, were arrested and imprisoned ahead of a bribery trial that critics call politically motivated. A commune chief was later jailed for allegedly offering money to the mistress’s mother.

A month after the CNRP claims of a release deal were made, however, all six are still behind bars.

Exiled CNRP leader Sam Rainsy claimed in an email to media Sunday that Sokha would be expected to sign a deal pledging that party members who insinuate that the prime minister’s eldest son was born from an affair with a Vietnamese general would be expelled from the CNRP.

“Hun Sen has been asking Kem Sokha to sign a letter promising to expel CNRP members who say Hun Manet has a Vietnamese father,” Rainsy said in the email, which was also sent to Anadolu Agency.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann told Anadolu Agency on Monday that in spite of the delays with the release, “in December and January, there is a positive development.”

He said more details would be forthcoming after CNRP and ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) officials meet -- most likely on or after Jan. 11 -- and that members are “looking forward” to that face-to-face.

Sovann insisted that there would be “no condition or deal at all”, but said he could give no specifics when asked if Rainsy was being directly involved in the negotiations for the people’s release.

Rainsy has been in exile since November 2015, when a years-old prison sentence for defamation was reinstated against him and an amnesty suspended.

Since then, Sokha -- who spent most of last year in hiding to avoid being questioned after his private conversations were leaked -- has been the acting leader on the ground in Cambodia.

Other cases and sentences, meanwhile, have continued to stack up against Rainsy while he remains abroad.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan could not be reached, but the Cambodia Daily reported Monday said the CPP had denied any knowledge of the statement Rainsy had referenced in his email.