ANSWER TO FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ABOUT MY NOT IMMEDIATELY RETURNING TO CAMBODIA

Khmer Circle: Well, the ban is lifted for precisely these reasons: naive and narrow-minded [foreign] journalists and publishers; regime supporters and anti-opposition detractors taking every opportunity to swap black with white and white with all other colours. If you are having in mind a certain press outlet that never fails to sully your or your party colleagues' name, as well as the honour of millions for their habitual and otherwise value-neutral reference to the Vietnamese as "Youn" by suggesting [falsely] that the term carries pejorative connotations and hence prejudice and racism towards the Vietnamese/Vietnam, then you should know what to expect from every word uttered, and that you may have more than Hun Sen and Co to overcome on this formidable route to freedom and democracy...

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១៥ មិថុនា ២០១៧ / 15 June 2017

ចម្លើយទៅ អ្នកសារព័ត៌មានបរទេស ស្តីពីការមិនវិលត្រឡប់មកប្រទេសកម្ពុជាវិញភ្លាមៗ របស់ខ្ញុំ

ANSWER TO FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ABOUT MY NOT IMMEDIATELY RETURNING TO CAMBODIA

“When it comes to cowardice in the fight between two politicians, isn’t the coward the one who uses a country’s tribunal, army and police under his control, to eliminate his opponent? Isn’t the coward the one in the position of a dictator who publicly says he is prepared to physically “suppress 100 to 200 persons” – as he actually did when staging a military coup in July 1997 – in order to preserve his power?”

What is the point of going to jail for the sake of going to jail, or getting killed for the sake of getting killed? I would accept any sacrifice, including giving up my life, if I am assured that my sacrifice would help advance the cause I am fighting for, meaning bringing a democratic change in Cambodia by first removing Hun Sen as a dictator.

I did say in an email to a journalist on deadline that I would return to the country if the travel ban was lifted. This was a shorthand for the restoration of my democratic rights which have been improperly removed. Canceling a travel ban while leaving the rest of the intimidation in place is not a serious advance. It’s time to get serious if we want to have a real democratic competition in 2018.

Getting into the hands of Hun Sen under the present circumstances would not advance our cause; on the contrary it would be a silly gift to Hun Sen – who has continuously tried to eliminate me since the March 30, 1997 deadly grenade attack in Phnom Penh – that would rather weaken our cause and demoralize CNRP supporters as shown in countless comments on this Facebook page. Kem Ley’s assassination on July 10, 2016 is still fresh in the people’s mind.

I am not interested in becoming a childish and inconsistent “hero” whose sacrifice would be useless and practically amount to a definitive and untimely retreat in the middle of a decisive battle.

When it comes to cowardice in the fight between two politicians, isn’t the coward the one who uses a country’s tribunal, army and police under his control, to eliminate his opponent? Isn’t the coward the one in the position of a dictator who publicly says he is prepared to physically “suppress 100 to 200 persons” – as he actually did when staging a military coup in July 1997 – in order to preserve his power?

Maybe a more telling comparison: Between two boxers at a boxing match, isn’t the coward the one who prevents his challenger from entering the ring in order to secure an easy but fake victory?

To name Hun Sen in another telling situation, why didn’t he show his “courage” by remaining and resisting the Khmer Rouge on Cambodia’s soil in the late 1970s? Why, as a soldier, did he flee the country to seek refuge in Vietnam?

Sam Rainsy