THE lawyer for Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua is to appear for a third time before a Bar Association inspection team today to answer allegations of misconduct in connection with his client's defamation case against Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"I will appear before the bar tomorrow," Kong Sam Onn told the Post Thursday. "I received the letter yesterday, but I don't know what questions I will be asked because the letter was not clear."

Kong Sam Onn has already appeared before an investigation panel twice, but both meetings were scuttled - the first because not enough members of the panel showed and the second because Kong Sam Onn objected to the presence on the panel of a lawyer who works for the same firm as Ky Tech, the attorney for Hun Sen who filed the bar complaint.

That panelist, Hem Voun, was removed from the panel and will not be replaced, Kong Sam Onn told the Post Thursday.

Suon Visal, the bar's secretary-general, said he was not aware that Hem Voun worked at the same firm as Ky Tech until Kong Sam Onn brought it to the bar's attention.

Ky Tech said he did not oppose the removal of Hem Voun from the inspection panel.

When he filed his complaint, Ky Tech said Kong Sam Onn was at fault because of statements he made when outlining Mu Sochua's case at an April 23 press conference.

That case stems from an April 4 speech given by the prime minister in which Mu Sochua said he made derogatory comments about her.

Hun Sen has countersued, denying the claims.