Prime Minister HunSen is finding himself on a hot seat for the very first time in his political career for making deregatory comments in references to an elected MP Mu Sochua during incident occured way back during election campaign, July 2008.
The lawsuit filed by MP Mu Sochua against the PM Hun Sen today could be the tip of the ice-berg which could deal a major blow to the character and for the first time a real embarrashment for the PM and his ruling party. When one looks beyond the actual prize sought in damage, the PM is in a "No-Win" position. It is not the "RIELS" or the "Dollars" that matter here, but the actual content of the lawsuit, its implication for today as well as tomorrow's claims when we are dealing with defamation lawsuit.
It has been well known that The Prime Minister and his ruling party has used this particular passage of law in the past to clam down on his opponents including the leader of the opposition party, Sam Rainsy, for making certain references during the election campaign. Now, that the coin has been flippee, PM refused to acknowledge that he did in fact referred those unthoughtful remarks to MP Mu Sochua. Who was he referring to in Kampot at the time he was barraging his comments? Is there anyone who fits the profile of his insulted remark, beside MP Mu Sochua? Maybe the government with all his senior advisors in place can come up with a name or an individual to rebuttal the charge.
It has been well known that The Prime Minister and his ruling party has used this particular passage of law in the past to clam down on his opponents including the leader of the opposition party, Sam Rainsy, for making certain references during the election campaign. Now, that the coin has been flippee, PM refused to acknowledge that he did in fact referred those unthoughtful remarks to MP Mu Sochua. Who was he referring to in Kampot at the time he was barraging his comments? Is there anyone who fits the profile of his insulted remark, beside MP Mu Sochua? Maybe the government with all his senior advisors in place can come up with a name or an individual to rebuttal the charge.
PM Hun Sen has a lot to loose if he is not being careful with how he wants the issue resolved. A counter lawsuit filed by the government is probably not the most intelligent way to go about in resolving the matter. A letter of apology with sincere and decent explaination would have probably been considered a better avenue to persuit. Case close, life goes on and the PM would have been better served himself. A good and decent man always know when he has done wrong.
What does the government sees in filing a counter lawsuit? Of course, with the kind of justice system in place, where most appointed justices were chosen by the PM Hun Sen and the ruling party itself, speaks volume. You can convict my opponents but you can't convict me even when you know that I am wrong. Is there any precedence here that the court might find, or not find to give justice its due? It is hard to say when you are dealing with Cambodian justice system.
For the sake of the argument, let's pretend that the PM Hun Sen will win the counter lawsuit, for not referring to MP Mu Sochua as charged in this case. It would be interesting to hear what the court will rule on this legality. Sam Rainsy was charged and convicted when he was not even naming Hun Sen. Is the Prime Minister above the law, all laws? Here is a problem again, and it will speak to the competency of the whole justice system of the country. There is no base for any lawful decision, as each case has been decided primarily based on who, not on precedences or merit of the law. In America, there is always precedences that a justice can use to apply, and in this case, the conviction of Sam Rainsy and others by the court in the past could be applied here the same way the court must use to convict PM Hun Sen, unless his council can made up another fictitious female MP from Kampot name, something like Veronica.
Still, let's say that now the Prime Minister is off the hook for whatever reason the court decided, will it open up a new profession in Cambodian stand up comedy, where all sort of jokes can be promoted to indignify the Prime Minister or any other dignitaries without mentioning names? Let's say if someone were to call somebody else something really dreadful, referring the man to all sort of things but kind of short of name calling. Will the court of Cambodia stays by its past decision? In this case MP Mu Sochua against the PM Hun Sen's personal insult.
I rest my case.
