Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy's response to The Phnom Penh Post

Phnom Penh Post
11 Oct, 2010

Dear Mr. Thomas Miller,

In political and diplomatic terms, especially after any incident, the words "regret" and "apology" do NOT have the same meaning.

You may regret an incident because it may be a sad thing in itself, but you don't apologise for it because you don't have any responsibility in its happening.

In early February 2006, in a specific political context, I wrote two absolutely identical letters to Mr. Hun Sen and to Prince Norodom Ranariddh to deal with past incidents so as to secure my return to the country .

With Mr. Hun Sen and with Prince Norodom Ranariddh I used exactly the same words to express my "regrets" but made sure there was no "apology."

I might "regret" the way I had "improperly" acted as a tribunal in straightforwardly accusing Hun Sen and Norodom Ranariddh of various crimes because I actually was not a tribunal, whose role is to investigate first before coming to any conclusion and handing down any sentence.

However, I have preserved my right to believe, and I do and still believe, in the responsibility of Hun Sen and Norodom Ranariddh in the related crimes. More importantly, I have preserved my right to file or to reactivate legal lawsuits so that relevant tribunals would further investigate into the crimes and punish the culprits accordingly.

Sincerely,

Sam Rainsy

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The following is The Phnom Penh Post's question to Sam Rainsy

Dear Mr. Rainsy,

I hope you are doing well. As you may know, the Cambodian government just released a letter that you wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 3, 2006 - I've pasted the text below. Could you please provide a couple of comments?

The government says that in this letter, you "apologized" for your accusations against Hun Sen, including the lawsuit you filed in US court that alleged his involvement in the 1997 grenade attack on protesters. Is this accurate?

The government also says that, even if you do not explicitly use the word "apologize" in the letter, the purpose of the letter was to apologize to Hun Sen as part of a political compromise which allowed you to return to Cambodia. So even if you did not use the word "apologize," is this still a letter of apology?

What is the next step for you in your legal battle to return to Cambodia, and/or shed more light on the 1997 grenade attack?

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Thomas

Thomas Miller

Reporter

Phnom Penh Post