SRP ponders next step in PM suit

Wednesday, 29 July 2009
By Meas Sokchea and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Mu Sochua (foreground) and Sam Rainsy before Mu Sochua’s Municipal Court trial on Friday. Photo by: AFP

With the verdict in SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua's defamation case expected next week, the party appears divided over whether to engage the government in another round of legal tangles.

AS PHNOM Penh Municipal Court prepares to deliver the verdict in Prime Minister Hun Sen's defamation case against Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Mu Sochua, the opposition faces the dilemma of whether to keep up the fight in the event of a guilty verdict or concede defeat by paying any fines levied by the court.

While some SRP officials seem to regard the verdict, expected August 4, as a natural endpoint to Mu Sochua's legal tangle with Hun Sen, some observers say the party should maintain its opposition regardless of the outcome.

Human Rights Party (HRP) President Kem Sokha said Monday that opposition parties should continue to take strong stands even as they are pressured more and more during government crackdowns.

"We should not let ourselves get soft-hearted," he said.

"What we must do is stand on principle against corruption and human rights violations. For the rights violations against Mu Sochua, we should not cease. We must go on."

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann told the Post last Thursday that the party would settle the case by paying any fines levied against Mu Sochua, adding that, as the saying goes, prudence might be the better part of valour.

Mu Sochua had previously said she would rather go to jail than pay a fine, saying her incarceration would draw attention to oppression directed at many Cambodians.

"Mu Sochua's stance is different from the party," Yim Sovann said. "The SRP sees that the court is not independent or fair. Even if we continue our case to the top, it will lose."

Please click here to read more...