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Prosecutors Charge Son Chhay with Public Defamation

  • Posted Aug 11, 2022 16:49 by Hun Sirivadh
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PHNOM PENH: Prosecutors from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court have charged senior member of the Candlelight Party, Son Chhay, with public defamation in a CPP lawsuit.

In the subpoena dated 9 August, Prosecutor Plang Sophal found that Son Chhay's interview with the Cambodia Daily's Idea Talk program highlighted elements of crime, enough to prove 66-year-old Chhay is guilty and can be charged.

Prosecutors first charged Son Chhay with public defamation in Phnom Penh on 7 June 2022, under Article 305 of the Penal Code, and ordered to send him and the relevant exhibits to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal trial.

On 14 June, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) placed a 4 billion riel (approximately US $1 million) lawsuit against Son Chhay on damages the party faced after he had made accusations on a foreign media broadcast in the Khmer language that the Commune / Sangkat Council elections held on 5 June involved fraud, intimidation and vote buying.

In an indictment released on Tuesday, 14 June, CPP lawyer Ky Tech presented to the court a USB memory stick containing a 2-hour, 10-minute, 56-second long video clip of an interview between the Cambodia Daily and Son Chhay, which was published on the social media sites Facebook and YouTube. In the interview, Son Chhay raised a number of points that the CPP allege affected the party's honor, such as his statements that "it is completely controlled by a party from top to bottom, they want to do anything," and "the result does not reflect the will of the people, there is threats, there is vote buying, there is stealing, and what we got is only the rest."

Moreover, he also stated, "A thief steals a cow, if he steals three cows, then why don’t we let him steal all five, maybe we can say it like that. This is the will of the people, some will be eradicated, there is still some of that will that we can protect, and we take that will as it is ours. We are protesting what is lost, it is normal, it never goes away. Letting them collect all of it is not possible."

The CPP's lawyer considered these allegations to be false, misleading, and misrepresentative, with the intent to impose dishonesty and slander, which would seriously damage the CPP's reputation.

In addition to being sued by the CPP, Son Chhay is also being sued by the National Election Committee for public defamation. 

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