Kim Sok urges country to vote out ruling party

Political analyst Kim Sok who is seen being escorted into a police van after his bail was denied in March at the Appeals Court in Phnom Penh, announced that he will go on hunger strike in Prey Say prison from today until the June 4 commune elections. Heng Chivoan

Imprisoned political analyst and social commentator Kim Sok announced yesterday that he will go on a hunger strike in Prey Say prison until the June 4 commune elections.

In a letter sent yesterday to his lawyer, Choung Choungy, Sok called on citizens to vote to change Cambodia’s leadership.

“The current leadership from local to national levels has infected the country with the virus of crime and corruption,” Sok wrote in the letter.

Sok was arrested in February on defamation charges after obliquely suggesting the ruling CPP may have been to blame for the murder of political analyst Kem Ley.

Ley was murdered in July in an assassination widely believed to be politically motivated.

“I am more desperate to vote for changing the commune chiefs for the development of our country than I am to have rice to feed my stomach and continue life,” Sok added.

Despite publicising the letter, Choungy did not address his client’s inflammatory remarks, saying only that he hopes a date will be set for his hearing as soon as possible.

By Soth Keomsoeun

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