Jailed opposition senator Hong Sok Hour has insisted that he had not doctored a 1979 border treaty with Vietnam, saying instead he had found the document on a Google search.
Facing up to 17 years in jail on charges of forgery and insurrection, he told Judge Ros Piseth he had not taken part in the altering of the treaty. He said that he had found the document in its present form in 2006 during a Google search and, with the help of an assistant, had included it in a video he posted on Facebook.
Judge Piseth asked the accused why he had not searched for the document in the senate library or from a colleague, to which the senator replied that he had done so, to no avail.
Mr. Sok Hour was arrested on August 15 after posting a video on Facebook that included a doctored version of the treaty. Calling the posting an “act of treason,” Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the arrest, which human rights groups and rival political parties say was politically motivated.
Mr. Sok Hour appeared in Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday in his latest attempt to be released on bail and have the charges against him dismissed. The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.
Mr. Sok Hour admitted that when he found the treaty online he had doubts about its authenticity, knowing that there are many forgeries on the Internet. His posting, he said, was to allow the public to reach its own conclusion. Last week, Human Rights Watch questioned the charges against the senator. “There is no evidence … that Hong Sok Hour himself created the inaccurate text, that he was aware of inaccuracies in it, or that his intention in making it public was to cause anything more than further discussions of the border issue,” the rights group said.
“An examination of the language used in the two texts strongly indicates that the version posted by Hong Sok Hour is not a forgery, but a bad translation back into Khmer of a poor translation of the Khmer original into French or English,” it said.
The doctored version of the treaty said Vietnam and Cambodia would “dissolve” the border between the countries. That language does not appear in the original, which was one of several agreements between the two countries during Vietnam’s 10-year occupation.
Controversy surrounding the border has dogged the prime minister, with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party accusing the government of ceding territory to its neighbors. Because Mr. Hun Sen was appointed prime minister in 1985 by the Vietnamese, the opposition frequently accuses him of being a “puppet” of Hanoi.
In response, Mr. Hun Sen has fought back. During a speech at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh on August 13, he lambasted Mr. Sok Hour for the Facebook post and ordered his arrest. “This is flagrant criminal evidence,” he said. “How much farther do they [the opposition party] want the country to be in turmoil?”
Early last month, the prime minister again took a hard line over allegations that the government was using the wrong maps to demarcate the border with Vietnam. “I would like to reaffirm that I will not forgive anyone who continues to criticize the maps by saying they are fake and made by thieves,” he said. “All law enforcement officers must arrest anyone who uses those words.”
Along with Mr. Sok Hour, several other critics of the prime minister’s border policies have been arrested in recent months. A 27-year-old construction worker is in prison after posting a death threat against Sok Touch, a border researcher; and CNRP lawyer Chhea Taing Sorn was arrested in late August after he allegedly shared documents accusing the Vietnamese of grabbing Cambodian territory. He is out of jail after paying a $730 fine. Of the recent arrests of opposition members, Mr. Sok Hour is by far the most senior.
Denied bail since mid-August, he told the court the conditions at Prey Sar Prison, in which he says he is living in a 15 square meter cell with 20 other inmates, are affecting his health. He said that high blood pressure requires him to take pills daily and that he has been denied access to outside doctors since his detention. Rights group Licadho, which has been sending doctors to treat patients at prisons since 1992, said they are now banned from Prey Sar.
Because of his health problems, Mr. Sok Hour pleaded with the judge to grant him bail, even offering to give 20 million riel and his passport to the court to ensure that he did not flee the country.
Prosecutor Sieng Sok said there was no evidence to prove Mr. Sok Hour has a chronic illness. The defense said that was because doctors have not had enough access to him to write the necessary documentation. The prosecution also warned that Mr. Sok Hour could “cause chaos” if he were released. After a 10-minute break on Friday, Judge Piseth announced his decision to deny the senator’s bail. He gave no reason.