LDP’s Veasna sues Facebook users for defamation

League for Democracy Party leader Khem Veasna attends a party campaign rally held in May in Kandal’s Takhmao town. Heng Chivoan

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Wed, 12 July 2017

Soth Koemsoeun

A representative of outspoken League for Democracy Party leader Khem Veasna said yesterday the party has filed complaints against four Facebook users for “twisting” his support for a controversial 2005 supplemental border treaty to accuse him of supporting the cession of Phu Quoc island to Vietnam.

LDP Secretary-General Chen Thon said filings for defamation, public insult and incitement to discriminate were made over posts from Stung Khiev Radio Station Director Pat Monny, as well as social media users Sran Sok Rom, better known online as “Aja Thom”; Chhea Dina, known as “Dany Kon Khmer”; and Khum Sokharoth.

The complaints against the four were made on July 10, he said, adding that the LDP was working on gathering evidence to sue at least six more, whom he declined to name until the court filings were made.

“The 10 people are accused differently based on the level of crimes,” Thon said. “Our team will continue to investigate to find more people twisting Khem Veasna, and if there are more, we will sue them too.”

Veasna – who was at the time a lawmaker for the Sam Rainsy Party, the rest of which boycotted the vote – does not deny voting for parts of the controversial 2005 law, but said on Sunday he only voted for the sections concerning Cambodia’s land borders.

“The supplemental Cambodia-Vietnam border treaty in 2005 was only about the land border, not the maritime borders,” Veasna said of his support for the treaty on Radio France International on Sunday, explaining his vote had nothing do with any islands.

“They implemented it article by article, and I did not raise my hand [for the maritime sections], but in the end, they adopted it as a whole,” he said.

Monny, the radio director, said he had not received any notification of the court complaint. Sok Rom and Dina did not respond to requests for comment, while contact information for Sokharoth could not be obtained.