Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for a new law to be passed that criminalises denial of genocide committed by the country’s Khmer Rouge regime.
Speaking to Parliament ahead of an election due to be held on July 28, Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre himself, Sen stated,
“Anyone who says there was no Khmer Rouge genocidal regime in Cambodia has to be punished,”
"In Europe, anyone who dares to say Hitler did not kill people will be prosecuted,"
His comments come after a recording of opposition leader Kem Sokha was posted on a government website where he allegedly states that the notorious S21 prison was an invention of the Vietnamese invaders. However, his party issued a statement, saying,
“Kem Sokha has never denied that there was a Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. He has publicly and strongly condemned that regime because he personally was one of the victimized and he clearly knows about the torture and killing,”
“But unfortunately, some politicians are taking the occasion of the words of Kem Sokha with the aim of manipulating and causing public confusion about him.”
