Cambodia investigating coup declaration against PM

By Julia Wallace

PHNOM PENH

Cambodian police say they are investigating the declaration of a coup against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, but have laughed off any suggestion of the threat being serious.

A video posted to YouTube and the Facebook page of a "Vichea Som" on Sunday showed a man sitting in front of a camouflage-print banner declaring a coup d’etat before listing numerous alleged human rights abuses by Hun Sen over the course of his more than 30 years in power.

The man identified himself as speaking on behalf of “the unit of the southwest region,” according to a translation published by The Cambodia Daily, and his Facebook page showed him in army uniform.

In an Facebook message sent Thursday to Anadolu Agency, the man claimed his real name was Som Sovannara and that he was studying abroad and currently in Canada.

"I appeal to the Khmer people, both in and out [of the country], to stand up to oppose the dictatorship led by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party and the Communist Vietnamese!" he wrote.

He appealed to "Khmer patriots and officials of all levels to stand up against the authoritarian regime." 

Gen. Kirth Chantharith, spokesman for the Cambodian National Police, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the man was being sought for arrest, but his identity was still unclear.

“As a result of the investigation, now we can identify [him], but it’s not really clear a hundred percent,” he said. “We are seeking to arrest him.”

Chantharith said it appeared that the man was outside of Cambodia, but declined to elaborate on where he thought he might be.

Asked whether the government believed the coup threat to be serious, Chantharith laughed.

“It’s a funny story,” he said. “He’s just a crazy man, just wants to do or just show off that he is a hero of Cambodian opposition, something like that.”

On Wednesday, the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF), a dissident group based in Denmark that the Cambodian government has denounced as a terrorist organization, identified Som Sovanara as one of its members. 

"He used to join with my seminar with President Sam Serey to debate about political leadership, human rights, democracy in Thailand since 2005 and join a struggle for democracy with me until we have officially established KNLF in 2012 in Denmark," it said in an a message from its Facebook page.

The message was not signed, and there was no suggestion as to who "me" was

Gen. Chantharith, however, said the government had not yet established that the man was truly affiliated with the KNLF or what his intentions were.

“We still cannot say, because we have to find more evidence and proof,” he underlined.

The news of the “coup” plot comes amid rising political tensions as the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Hun Sen, which keeps firm control over the country’s military and security forces, has been fending off a challenge from the more liberal Cambodia National Rescue Party, which had unexpected success in the 2013 national election.

Since then, however, both of the party’s two top leaders have been hobbled by legal troubles, with the opposition leader being forced into exile in France while the deputy leader has been hiding out inside the party’s headquarters after being threatened with arrest in May.

Most recently, a prominent political commentator was shot dead in broad daylight July 10 in a killing that the opposition has accused of being a state-sponsored assassination.

Thousands of angry mourners are expected in the capital Sunday for a procession to escort his body back to his hometown to be cremated.