24 June 2016•Update: 29 June 2016
By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH
Cambodia’s self-exiled opposition leader has been urged to return to Cambodia where he faces a prison sentence, with a party member saying to do so would further his cause more than staying away and trying to drum up support from abroad.
The Phnom Penh Post on Friday quoted a Cambodia National Rescue Party supporter who had spoken during a party event in Lowell, Massachusetts -- home to one of the largest Cambodian diasporas -- as saying Sam Rainsy “is afraid of imprisonment”.
Rainsy is no stranger to self-imposed exile, having previously lived abroad from 2009 to 2013 to avoid a sentence for moving a border post between Cambodia and Vietnam.
However, his amnesty was relatively short-lived. His most recent stint abroad began in November, when he failed to return from a trip to Japan after a warrant for his arrest was issued in his absence.
That warrant stems from a years-old defamation case brought against him by former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.
“The leader is afraid of imprisonment and flees his country. The National Rescue Party has much support around the world but when confronted with problems, Mr. President has always fled from the country. They jail, Mr. President flees,” the Post quoted the unnamed man as saying.
He also urged Rainsy to “go to jail and win the citizens’ support”.
Rainsy’s deputy, Kem Sokha, has been sequestered at CNRP headquarters for weeks, ever since police mounted an attempt to arrest him over his failure to appear in court for questioning about an affair.
Although the party is now somewhat rudderless, Rainsy argued on his Facebook page yesterday that “for the leader of a liberation movement, fighting from abroad for a period of time may be the only option to achieve final victory.”
CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann could not be reached for comment Friday.
