SAM Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua said Thursday that she has asked lawyer Sok Sam Oeun to replace her former attorney Kong Sam Onn, who defected this week to the Cambodian People's Party after Hun Sen filed a defamation suit against him. But Sok Sam Oeun says he has not yet agreed to defend the embattled legislator.

Mu Sochua said Thursday she picked Sok Sam Oeun, the executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, because she knew he would not be susceptible to intimidation by the situation.

"I have decided to take lawyer Sok Sam Oeun to defend me. I have already asked him, and he agreed. But he told me to write a letter to ask permission from the court first," Mu Sochua said.

"He is really a very brave lawyer. Some lawyers look brave, but when pressure bores down, they admit defeat," she said.

But Sok Sam Oeun said he has not accepted the position.

"I have not agreed with her yet. My organisation helps the poor, but she is rich," Sok Sam Oeun said.