Opposition attack

PRIME Minister Hun Sen lashed out at self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday, accusing the globe-trotting former finance minister of turning his legal troubles into a personal vendetta.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony, the premier said Sam Rainsy was attempting to “turn a dispute with the law into a dispute with me”.

“You have been sentenced to 12 years in jail in total,” Hun Sen said yesterday. “Please serve at least two-thirds of your jail term.”

In January, Sam Rainsy was sentenced to two years in prison in connection with a protest he held near the Vietnamese border last year, a term that was upheld by the Appeal Court last week. Last month, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Phnom Penh Municipal Court for disinformation and falsifying public documents following attempts to prove his claims regarding Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian territory.

In videoconferences from abroad, Sam Rainsy has recently announced plans to file complaints against Hun Sen in foreign courts accusing him of crimes against humanity.