PHNOM PENH: A former Cambodian opposition lawmaker who was a strong critic of the government’s handling of border issues with Vietnam has been pardoned.
The pardon of Um Sam An was granted by King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen. The veteran strongman has indicated a willingness to bury the hatchet with some of his critics, now that he has secured another five years in power through an election that featured no credible opposition.
A member of the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Um Sam An was sentenced in October 2016 to two and a half years in prison for making comments on the politically sensitive topic of the border. Prosecutors said he implied that Hun Sen’s government had failed to counter land encroachment by Vietnam, Cambodia’s traditional enemy.
In handing out the sentence in 2016, a judge said the accusations made by Um Sam An in 2015 Facebook posts aimed to “cause chaos” in society. He was arrested in April 2016 in the Siem Reap after having returned from a trip to the United States.
Um Sam An is the latest political prisoner to be released from jail in the last week.
On Tuesday, two Cambodian journalists who had worked for US-funded Radio Free Asia and who have been charged with espionage were released on bail. A day earlier, four women jailed for participating in Cambodia’s land rights movement were freed under a royal pardon requested by Hun Sen.
Hun Sen cracked down on critics and opponents last year in what was seen as an effort to ensure his party would win elections held this year. His party did win last month’s polls, though the vote was widely seen as a sham.
Hun Sen, who has been in office since 1985 and has held a tight grip on power since ousting a co-prime minister in a 1997 coup, has a long record of cracking down harshly when facing a serious challenge, then effecting reconciliation when he no longer feels threatened. The pattern keeps human rights groups and Western governments off balance and moderates their criticism.
In an interview with government-aligned media, Um Sam An said his newfound freedom was a chance to “reconcile the nation”.
“Regardless of opposition party or the ruling party, we can love and work together to … protect our border,” he said in an interview broadcast on Facebook Live.
He added that 14 more lawmakers remained behind bars in Prey Sar prison, where he was jailed, while many others — including CNRP leader Kem Sokha — are scattered in provinces across the country.
More than half of the opposition MPs fled Cambodia last year for fear of being imprisoned under trumped-up charges, as Kem Sokha had been.
On Thursday, Hun Sen said he planned to pardon 12 more people who had written him apology letters, but warned that the process would be “put on hold” if anyone comments that he was under pressure from the international community.
