The hearing was done by Judge Koam Chhean in the presence of Svay Rieng Provincial Court Prosecutor Keo Sothea and Mr. Tep Phall, the clerk in the process.
Aroung the court saw around 200 police officers and military police armed with guns, shocking sticks, helmets and security shields, deployed on the street. Whereas about 20 to 30 rights observers, national and international journalists as well as the suspect’s relatives were not allowed to enter the court yard at all. There were 3 Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers in the hearing- Mr. Katta Chiv, Mr. Long Ry and Mr. Kong Bora; and the two suspects, Mrs. Meas Srey, 39 and Mr. Prom Chea, 48. The two people were arrested on December 23, 2009; while other 3 villagers, including Mr. Prak Chea, 28, Mrs. Prak Keun, 38 and Mrs. Neang Phally, have escapted ever since.
Related to the verdict, it resulted from the uprooting of 6 poles of border demarcation, planted by the Joint Border Committee from the two countries, Cambodia and Vietnam, during the visit and Buddhist ceremony on October 25.
In the last session, Judge Koam Chhean decided to sentence Mr. Sam Rainsy in absential to 2 years in prision and fined 8 million riels; whereas Mrs. Meas Srey and Mr. Prum Chea were tried to one year in prison for the accusation. The three accused were also ordered to collectively pay 55 million riels ($13, 253) in compensation for the removal of the border markers.
The following day of the hearing, on January 28, 2010 Mr. Sam Rainsy held a press conference through the Internet with the national and international journalists as well as his activists about 150 people at the Sam Rainsy Party office in Phnom Penh in order to clarify and reveal his stance and plan related to the Svay Rieng Provincial Court’s decision that day.
During the conference, Mr. Sam Rainsy asserted that the case of border marker 185, which led to this hearing, was not an individual matter. It was not the problem of those arrested villagers, it was not the problem of those 3 accused and it was not the problem Mr. Sam Rainsy himself, but it was the problem of Cambodian nation, the problem of all Cambodian people. And it was also the international problem between Cambodia and Vietnam. As showing the report about new border demarcation and as he was speaking, Mr. Sam Rainsy said that the real problem was the ignorance of the Cambodian government that let its territory integrity; especially villagers’ land, to be encroached by the neighboring countries.
Based on the high-tech equipment, called GPS; and the two maps, one was done during French colony in 1952 [the measurement is 1/100,000] and the other was made by American troops during Vietam War in 1966 [the measurement is 1/50,000]; as well as banked on his recent research about those new border poles of 15 pages and 6 ones, Mr. Sam Rainsy accused the border marker 185 of being planted into Khmer land; especially villagers’ farmland. He also added that not only the marker 185, but the 182, 184 and 189 ones had been posted in Khmer territory as well. The reports showed that those poles were far away from the old border of about 260 meters.
In addition, after his uprooting of those 6 polies [the border marker 185] in Svay Rieng province on October 25, 2009 Vietnamese authority subsequently pulled up the aforesaid cement-made markers. This meant that Vietnamese government admitted they were illegal border demarcation. Mr. Sam Rainsy considered those poles as the invasion ones, not only invaded into Khmer territory integrity but also residents’ land, which caused lots of villagers lose their homes.
Answering to the question whether or not he would seek an appeal, Mr. Sam Rainsy exposed that he did not care about the court’s verdict. He said the decision was made and followed the order of Vietnamese Prime Misiter Nguyen Tan Dung, who had proposed that the Cambodian government take due measures to deal with him of sabotage which negatively affected the fine relations between the two nations. However he would lodge complaints with international court and international communities; particularly with those signatory countries of the Paris Peace Accord in 1991. They had to abide by their promise as signed in the agreement to protect Cambodian territory integrity and democracy. He would also fly to America, Canada, Australia and Japan to seek their interventions on this case because it was the political and linternational issue, the case of land encroachment, not his own.
Related to another question on what evidence can he prove this case, he once again illustrated that he had experts in geography, history and computer science to help him; especially the reports as he had earlier exposed in the conference.
Mr. Sam Rainsy also promised that he would face the Cambodian court; he would let the court to detain him in case they released the two arrested villagers and gave back villagers’ land, which had been encroached in the process of new border measurements by the Bilater Joint Border Committee.
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