Cambodia Hosts Thaksin, but Not Permanently

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 635 - Saturday, 24.10.2009

“Phnom Penh: In the evening of 23 October 2009, the Minister of Information and spokesperson of the Royal Government, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, told Kampuchea Thmey, ‘Samdech Hun Sen did not say that he will provide a permanent house to Mr. Thaksin to stay in Cambodia. But, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra can come to Cambodia. Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen was quoted incorrectly by journalists.’ Many Thai senior officials, including Prime Minister Abhisit Vijjajiva and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban reacted strongly, saying that they will seek the extradition of Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, if he comes to Cambodia.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia expressed the firm position not to extradite Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand if he comes to Cambodia.

“According to the statement of the spokesperson of the Royal Government of Cambodia that Rasmei Kampuchea received on 23 October 2009, Cambodia will not extradite him in response to any request from the Thai government in case former Thai prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, comes to stay in the Kingdom of Cambodia, but the Royal Government of Cambodia still maintains the firm position to maintain good relationships and cooperation in all sectors between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Thailand.

“The statement of the spokesperson of the Royal Government of Cambodia says that after the statement of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, on 21 October 2009, Thai senior leaders had issued follow-up statements confirming their position that if Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra comes to Cambodia, the Thai government will seek to have him extradited back to Thailand, based on a treaty signed by the governments of both countries in 1998.

“The spokesperson of the Cambodian government stated that according to the third article of the Cambodia-Thailand Extradition Treaty between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Thailand, declared valid by Royal Decree 0799 dated 17 July 1999, both sides receiving requests for an extradition have the right to reject an extradition based on any of the following cases:

1. Any side receiving a request for extradition can refuse the extradition if it considers the demand to be politically motivated,
2. Any side receiving a request for extradition that has a well founded reason to assume that the request for extradition is made with the aim to use criminal procedures or to impose punishment on the individual accused, over reasons of race, religion, nationality, or political views, or if the position of the accused person is considered affected by the reasons mentioned above.

“The statement added that, based on the two points above, the Royal Government of Cambodia has the right to clarify the interpretation of the case of the Thai former prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, as it could be viewed as being politically motivated. The permission announced, saying that he could stay in Cambodia is based on an humanitarian attitude, as Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen is a friend of Mr. Thaksin, and he helps him in time of crisis, and this humanitarian attitude is not meant to interference in the internal affairs of Thailand.” Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2080, 24.10.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 24 October 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #319, 24.10.2009

• Samdech Hun Sen Will Nominate [Thai former prime minister] Thaksin Shinawatra as His Economic Advisor [he said in Hua Hin – site of the ASEAN summit meeting]
• The Girl Adopted by a Woman [teacher] Who Tortured Her Was Found to Have Four Places where Her Bones Had Been Broken
• Cambodia Hopes that Chinese Investors Will Come to Invest in the Special Economic Zone in Sihanoukville

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2080, 24.10.2009

• The 15th ASEAN Summit Was Opened in Cha Am and in Hua Hin under Strict Security
• Cambodia Hosts Thaksin, but Not Permanently
• Cheam Yeap: If There Would not have been the 7th January [1979 - the day that Cambodian and Vietnamese troops were victorious over the Khmer Rouge regime], There Would Not Have Been the 23rd October [1991 - the Paris Peace Agreement]
• Former US President [Mr. Jimmy Carter] and Volunteers Will Build [166] Houses [for poor people] in Five Countries in Asia [Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #516, 24.10.2009

• [The vice president of the Sam Rainsy Party] Mr. Kong Korm Wants that Civil Society Should Be Allowed to Participate in Sessions of the National Assembly to Express their Ideas about such Cases as the Penal Code

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6787, 24-25.10.2009

• Two More Khmer Citizens Were Surrounded, Shot at, and Arrested West of the Ou Chak Chraeng Area on the Dangrek Mountains [at the Thai side of the border in Oddar Meanchey]
• Tragedy of a Shell Explosion: A Man Was Injured and His Pregnant Wife and His Daughter Were Killed [when they tried to take the gunpowder out of an old shell to sell the scrap iron – Kampot]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5029, 24.10.2009

• ASEAN Established Its Own Human Rights Instrument under the Shadow of Disagreements [it is criticized that this organization will not have any power to work – and five of the ten Civil Society human rights activists which had been invited and traveled to the venue to meet the ASEAN government leaders were refused to participate – after reported interventions from the delegations of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar]
• A Vietnamese Man Was Arrested, Bringing the Total Number of Arrests to Eight in a Heroin Smuggling Case of Half a Million Dollars [Phnom Penh]

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