Phnom Penh (FN), May 22 – Cambodian Senate President, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, urged lawmakers to contemplate drafting legislation aimed at penalising individuals who deny the existence of genocide in Cambodia.

Samdech Techo spoke on Wednesday (May 22) at the closing of the conference on the “Future of Cambodia Without Genocide” at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

Samdech Techo Hun Sen continued that drafting this law is not a violation of freedom of expression but an end to the political games of some politicians.

Samdech Techo underlined, "I urge all lawmakers to consider the possibility of enacting legislation in Cambodia to penalise those who deny the occurrence of genocide in our country. Why do I propose this? Because a court ruling has confirmed Cambodia's history of a genocidal regime and conducted trials on genocide. If the court has ruled as such, shouldn't we have a law to officially acknowledge Cambodia's past genocidal regime?"

"In Europe, denying that Hitler's regime was fascist is punishable. Should Cambodia adopt a similar stance?" Samdech Techo posed the question.

The historical fact remains that Cambodia indeed endured a genocidal regime. The Khmer Rouge tribunal and the trials of its leaders have delivered justice to the Cambodian people, a process awaited for up to 43 years. Samdech Techo stressed that the verdict against the Khmer Rouge regime has dispelled ambiguity and garnered recognition from the United Nations Security Council. The UN condemns the Khmer Rouge atrocities while also denouncing those who ousted the regime.
=FRESH NEWS