Category: Europe

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday threatened to fire the relatives of a popular Cambodian online activist based in France who has been highly critical of the longtime leader and the government. Thousands of viewers watch Sorn Dara’s talk shows on Facebook during which he routinely attacks Hun Sen and calls for his removal from office. His father is a military officer and a longtime supporter of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and and his sister-in-law works at the Ministry of Interior.  “You want to try me if your parents don’t teach you lessons. I will fire your parents – including your relatives – from their jobs,” Hun Sen said at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. “You are so rude. I will invite your father and your sister-in-law to learn some lessons and don’t complain that I am taking your relatives as hostages,” an apparent reference to firing them. Sorn Dara lives in exile in France and is seeking asylum there. He most recently criticized Hun Sen for promising free admission to people and participants during the upcoming Southeast Asia Games, which are being held in Cambodia next month. The move has been criticized as a way to curry favor with voters ahead of July’s parliamentary election. Following his threats on Tuesday, Hun Sen posted videos of Sorn Dara’s mother and brother on Telegram saying they were disappointed that Sorn Dara hasn’t joined the CPP.  ‘You insult your parents’ Hun Sen also spoke publicly about Sorn Dara in February, saying that he wasn’t a good son because he didn’t listen to his parents. “You insult your parents to whom you owe gratitude saying they have less education than you,” he said. “Your parents gave birth to you. You still look down on them. How about the regular people? If you don’t recognize your parents, then you are not human.” Sorn Dara is a former official of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. He said his father disowned him that same year because he had refused to join the CPP.   Sorn Dara’s father, Col. Sok Sunnareth, deputy chief of staff of the Kampong Speu Provincial Operations Area and a ruling party working group official, publicly implored his son on Feb. 22 to stop criticizing Hun Sen and his government, according to a Khmer Times report.  On Tuesday, Sorn Dara responded to Hun Sen’s latest angry threat with a Facebook post that said the prime minister should act in a more mature manner and lead the country with dignity. Speaking to Radio Free Asia, Sorn Dara noted that Hun Sen has recently been using threats and tricks against political opponents as the election looms.  “I don’t want to be associated with my family. They are different from me,” he said. “No one can stop me from doing something.” ‘I will try to advise my brother’ Sorn Dara’s parents appeared in a short video in February posted by the pro-government Fresh News, saying they had severed ties with their son. His brother, Sorn Saratt, told RFA on Tuesday that he has also cut ties with him. But he said he will try to convince his brother to defect from the opposition party and join the CPP. “I will try to advise my brother to stop attacking the King, the government and Samdech [Hun Sen], to stay away from traitors and return to the family and the country,” he said. Ros Sotha, executive director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, told RFA that Hun Sen’s threat isn’t legitimate. He urged the prime minister to be patient and to avoid violating human rights and the law. “As a leader, he shouldn’t be afraid of being criticized,” he said. “There is no law that [Sorn Dara’s relatives] will be fired because they are related to members of the opposition party.” Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

UPDATED AT 06:45 a.m. ET on 2023-04-17 Myanmar’s junta plans to release 3,015 prisoners, according to a statement carried on the pro-military channel Myanmar Radio and Television. Other junta statements Monday said 98 foreigners, including five Sri Lankans being held in Yangon’s Insein prison, were among those set to be released as part of the New Year’s amnesty.  Relatives of other prisoners waited outside Insein on Monday morning as yellow buses carried freed prisoners out of the notorious prison. It was not immediately clear how many political prisoners were among those granted amnesty. “If any political prisoners have been released it is obviously good news for them and their families, but there are still thousands of political prisoners in jail. None of them should be in prison,” Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK told RFA. “The international community must not forget Burma’s political prisoners. Among those detained in the more than two years since the coup are Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy, who is serving a total of 33 years in prison. The NLD — dissolved by the junta last month — won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election and many senior members were arrested on trumped-up charges in the days and months following the coup. Others being held for ‘political’ crimes include civil disobedience movement teachers, students, doctors and nurses, and also members and supporters of People’s Defense Forces. The junta has arrested more than 21,300 political prisoners since seizing power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, according to the Thailand-based monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of that number, it says 17,460 are still being held in prisons across the country. This year’s amnesty is almost double the size of 2022’s, when the junta pardoned 1,619 people, most of whom were said to be jailed for drug and immigration offenses. Junta State Administration Council Secretary Lt. Gen. Aung Lin Dwe said Monday’s amnesty was intended to “bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns.” It is likely to do neither. Last week, ASEAN joined humanitarian groups in condemning the junta for staging probably its most brutal massacre in the more than two years since the coup. At least 165 people were killed, many women and children among them, when junta jets bombed the opening ceremony of a village administrative building in Sagaing region, while helicopter gunships cut down those trying to flee. “We need to see stronger international action to support people in Burma and to cut off sources of funds and arms to the military, including sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to help stop the devastating military airstrikes, like the attack in Sagaing region last week,” Burma Campaign UK’s Anna Roberts said. Anti-junta People’s Defense Forces have warned people not to celebrate the Thingyan water festival and New Year, bombing junta-built Thingyan pavilions across the country, killing eight people in Sagaing region and four in Shan state. Story updated to include comments from Burma Campaign UK. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.