Hor Namhong Files Another Defamation Lawsuit In Paris

Comrade Hor 5 Hong

26 May 2011

HOR NAMHONG FILES ANOTHER DEFAMATION LAWSUIT IN PARIS

Over the last twenty years Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has filed a series of defamation lawsuits against all those who exposed his Khmer Rouge connections: Former King Norodom Sihanouk, opposition leader Sam Rainsy, independent Web sites such as KI-Media, Sacrava and Khmerization. A few months ago, he lodged another defamation complaint before the French court against the Paris-based magazine “20 Minutes”, French journalist Corinne Callebaut and Mrs. Ung Boun-Hor, the widow a former president of Cambodia’s National Assembly in the 1970’s who is now living in Paris.

On 15 July 2009 the magazine “20 Minutes” published an article by Corinne Callebaut titled “14 Juillet : l’invitation du Premier ministre cambodgien, connu pour son passé de Khmer Rouge, passe mal” [14 July : The controversial invitation extended to the Cambodian Prime Minister known for his past as a Khmer Rouge].

In the above-mentioned article Mrs. Ung Boun-Hor was quoted as saying, “Ce qui nous fait le plus de mal est que la France accueille également [avec le premier ministre cambodgien Hun Sen] Monsieur Hor Nam Hong, le ministre des Affaires étrangères. Car si Hun Sen a été un khmer rouge, il n’a pas fait partie de l’Angkar [l’organisation politique khmère rouge], contrairement à son ministre, qui fut lui le responsable d’un centre de concentration et de tortures. Cet homme devrait figurer sur la liste des accusés au procès des Khmers Rouges”. [What hurts us most is the fact that France also welcomes (along with Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen) Mr. Hor Nam Hong, the minister of foreign affairs. Since although Hun Sen was a Khmer Rouge, he was not a member of Angkar (the Khmer Rouge political organization), contrary to his minister, who was responsible for a concentration and torture camp. That man should be on the list of those to be prosecuted at the trial of the Khmer Rouge].

Read full article in French at

The fact that Hor Namhong finally and definitively lost his lawsuit against Sam Rainsy following a historical decision by the French Supreme Court on 27 April 2011, bodes ill for his latest lawsuit in France against “20 Minutes”, Corinne Callebaut and Mrs. Ung Boun-Hor.