Friday, August 21, 2009

They killed his older brother ... now they plan to sue him for speaking out the truth?

Chea Mony, President of the FTUWKC

The Ministry of Interior plans to sue Chea Mony for providing false testimony to the court

21 August 2009
Kampuchea Thmei newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The ministry of Interior (MoI) plans to sue Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), for providing false testimony to the court.

Khieu Sopheak, MoI spokesman, told Kampuchea Thmei over the phone in the afternoon of 20 August 2009 that the MoI reserves the right to sue Chea Mony because he provided false testimony and he used the court hearing as a platform to spread disinformation. The event took place during Chea Mony’s presence at the court hearing held on 17 August 2009, and [his statements] could lead to confusion.

Khieu Sopheak said that: “(1) We consider that he truly provided false testimony to the court, (2) he used the court hearing platform to spread disinformation to all those present in the hearing, including national and international reporters. Therefore the MoI reserves the right to sue him in court for his action.”

Regarding this lawsuit against Chea Mony, Khieu Sopheak did not yet confirm its exact timing.

Chea Mony is the president of the FTUWKC and the younger brother of Chea Vichea who was murdered in 2004. Kampuchea Thmei could not yet reach him over the phone in the afternoon of 20 August to obtain his comment.

On 17 August 2009, the Appeal court held a hearing on the murder case of Chea Vichea, the former FTUWKC president who was murdered near Wat Langka Pagoda in 2004. During the hearing, Chea Mony publicly declared to the court, as the suing party, that the government was behind the murder of his brother.

His declaration was met by a strong reaction from the judge and the prosecutor, and Chea Mony’s words were recorded in the court proceedings.

Following the murder of Chea Vichea, two men were arrested and accused of involvement in the murder. However, recently, the Supreme court decided to released the alleged killers on bail because of insufficient evidence. On 17 August, the two accused men were granted full freedom and the Appeal court also ordered a new investigation into this murder case.

After the Appeal court’s order to re-investigate the case, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) in Cambodia and ILO issued a joint statement welcoming the re-investigation order for the murder.

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