Phnom Penh: The Royal Government Attorney Group has released a statement on Wednesday stressing that Cambodia has no political prisoners, only politicians convicted for something for committing criminal offenses.
The group’s statement says, “Persons who commit illegal acts shall be convicted and punished according to the provisions of the law. The execution of sentences according to judicial decisions, which are rendered after the process of legal proceedings and which have become final, is a general and usual norm implemented in every rule of law [of the] country.”
The statement has added that when a person has perpetrated an act which is defined as a criminal offense, Cambodian criminal law provides for penalties in the forms of imprisonment and fines, in particular, which are the result of a criminal action and imposes civil remedies originated from the victim’s civil action serving the purpose of seeking compensation for injuries to a victim of a criminal offense.
“The individuals named Sam Rainsy and Tioulong Saumura had committed acts which are stipulated as criminal offenses under Cambodian law. Relevant judicial proceedings commenced and progressed until completion according to the applicable laws, and these individuals were found guilty for their criminal offenses in violation of the law through the judicial decision that have become final, as the last legal resort and executable, sentencing these perpetrators for the criminal offenses that they committed and awarding of civil remedies to the civil parties who were victims of such crimes.”
It also says that the judicial seizure and compulsory sale of assets of a convict or obligor is a usual procedure enforced against every person who owes an obligation of providing civil remedies, not just against Sam Rainsy and Tioulong Saumura.
On Monday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court has released the decision to forcibly sell the house of the former CNRP member Sam Rainsy, in Prek Ta Kong village, Chak Angre Leu commune, Meanchey district, in Phnom Penh. The money earned from selling Rainsy’s house will be used as a compensation to the National Assembly President, Heng Samrin, Prime Minister Hun Sen, Minister of Interior, Sar Kheng and the Royal Government – all worth around $2 million.
