Court Issues Summons for Opposition Over Finance Report
SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the party had already filed the proper financial reports in 2006.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has received yet another court summons from Cambodia, this one over a complaint filed in 2007 over a missing financial report to the Ministry of Interior. Sam Rainsy, who is in self-imposed exile abroad and facing a number of other criminal charges he claims are politically motivated, said Monday the party was meeting over how to handle the most recent summons from Phnom Penh Municipal Court. “The Cambodian court is keeping an eye on the Sam Rainsy Party only,” he said. “There are many issues that the court should be taking care of.” SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the party had filed the proper financial reports in 2006, and that the charges they had not were “absurd.” Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said Saturday that the ministry had filed similar complaints against a number of parties that failed to file financial reports in 2006. However, Sam Rainsy said the new summons shows a “fear” of the opposition by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. “So that’s why the ruling party is trying to provoke the Sam Rainsy Party.” Koul Panha, executive director for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the Interior Ministry should have first issued a warning to the party before filing a complaint with the court. A hearing as elections approach, he added, could cause “political turmoil.”