Cambodian foreign minister to sue paper for Khmer Rouge label

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Jan 15, 2001

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 9 Kyodo

Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong said Tuesday he will sue the Cambodia Daily for $1 million for defaming him by claiming he was a Khmer Rouge member responsible for mass killings during its terror regime in the 1970s.

Hor Nam Hong announced the suit after reading an article in the paper's Tuesday edition.

''The newspaper has named me as a Khmer Rouge,'' he said. ''For me, to (accuse me of being a member of the) Khmer Rouge is an insult. The paper has publicly insulted me.''

The paper said those responsible for the mass slaughter ''could also include some government officials who were part of the Khmer Rouge regime, like Finance Minister Keat Chhon, Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong and Pailin Governor Y Chhien.''

Hor Nam Hong said the paper, the most popular English-language daily in the country, has run two stories with the same charge against him, the first in October last year and the second Tuesday.

The foreign minister's reaction comes amid moves to enact a bill setting up a special court to try former members of the Khmer Rouge, which killed an estimated 1.7 million people when it controlled Cambodia.

Hor Nam Hong said he supports the proposed tribunal. He added that he hated the Khmer Rouge, which he said slaughtered two of his sisters in the late 1970s.