Warrant issued for arrest of Cambodia opposition leader

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy in relation to a seven-year-old defamation case brought against him by the country’s foreign minister.

The warrant, which was posted on social media by a number of local news outlets Friday afternoon, relates to a 2008 case brought by Hor Namhong, who accused Rainsy of libel for saying Namhong was involved in the running of a Khmer Rouge camp in southern Phnom Penh -- an allegation the minister has strenuously denied for years.

The new warrant stems from charges of defamation and public incitement to discrimination, for which Rainsy was tried and convicted in absentia to two years in prison in 2011.

He is currently in Japan, and representatives from his party could not be reached for comment on the warrant or his plans, if any, to return.

Rainsy went into exile in 2009 to avoid a conviction for the removal of border posts, though his four-year exile ultimately spared him the defamation sentence as well.

He was granted amnesty by his longtime rival Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2013 so that he could contest the elections as the head of his new Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

On Thursday, in a live address on Facebook, Hun Sen warned Rainsy that he faced legal action over other allegedly defamatory comments he made about the ruling Cambodian People’s Party wanting to cancel upcoming local and national elections for fear of losing, according to The Cambodia Daily.

Late last month, two MPs from the CNRP were badly beaten by a crowd of government loyalists who had gathered outside parliament, calling for the ouster of Rainsy’s deputy from the National Assembly.