PM vows to have leaflet gang jailed

06 January 2010
by Cheang Sokha
Phnom Penh Post

PRIME Minister Hun Sen vowed Tuesday to have arrested the distributors of 600 anti-Vietnamese leaflets found on the grounds of a high school in Takeo province the day before, adding that he believed the perpetrators had fled to Thailand but were plotting future leafleting missions.

“To the group of leaflet distributors: Be careful, I will arrest you,” the premier said before an audience of several hundred at the inauguration of a stretch of National Road 1 in Kandal province. “I have already determined that the leaflets cursed January 7, and if you distribute more I will order your arrest,” he added.

A copy of one of the leaflets obtained Monday asserted that January 7, 1979, the day the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, should be remembered as the day Cambodia was invaded and occupied by the Vietnamese.

“January 7 is the day that Khmers fell into the iron grip of the communist [Vietnamese] who abused and occupied Cambodia,” the leaflet reads.
“The communist dictatorship regime of Hun Sen is a puppet of the communist [Vietnamese], since they were installed by the [Vietnamese] when they came to power on January 7, 1979.”

Hun Sen said Tuesday that he knew who distributed the leaflets and had been informed that they had fled to Thailand, where he said the leaflets had been produced. “I know who they are,” he said, without elaborating.

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said the authorities in Takeo were continuing to investigate the distribution of the leaflets but had yet to identify any suspects.

“We have no sign of the suspects yet because we have been investigating for just one day,” he said.
“We are monitoring other places, but no other leaflets have been scattered.”

About 10,000 supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party are expected to gather at the party’s central headquarter in Phnom Penh on Thursday to celebrate the January 7 holiday.