Strategic arrests in Cambodia

The Government succeeded in the short term with its toughness, all the while conscious that its actions would bring universal condemnation for a while. It was willing to take that risk. More importantly, in the process the focus was shifted from the domestically controversial border treaty to a less potent human rights issue.

Meanwhile, the Government defended its difficult position on the basis that it had followed due process and that it would have been an abrogation of its duty if it failed to prosecute those guilty of such serious defamation. Officials also took great pains to point out that defamation as a criminal offence was not of the the present government's making but a legacy of the United Nations Transitional Authority which prepared Cambodia for the 1993 elections. However, critics were not persuaded and have countered that "it was a law for exceptional circumstances that should have been replaced by now".

In a turn of events, Hun Sen declared on January 24 that he had reached a compromise with the activists and he would drop criminal defamation suits against the four critics because they had written letters to him apologising for their defamatory remarks.

The foreign media generally ascribed the move to "a change of heart that came amid mounting pressure at home and abroad". To local analysts there was no "change of heart" - it was merely another phase of a strategy in progress. The dropping of the charges against the four earned Hun Sen some domestic goodwill and lowered tensions. Though Hun Sen subsequently clarified he had personally dropped the complaints, due process required the courts to proceed with the defamation suits. He saw two alternatives for the activists - either to go to court and should they be found guilty, he would seek a royal pardon, as he demonstrated in one case, or for the activists to keep a low profile for three years by which time defamation charges in Cambodia expire.

While neither would be palatable to the activists, it never-the-less left the door open for Sam Rainsy to follow a similar course of retracting his allegations and returning from self-exile as some unconfirmed reports have indicated.

Given the nature of Cambodian politics, there will surely be other rounds of tension and excitement in the future, the next possibility being the reaction of the four activists. Meanwhile for those who predicted the demise of democracy and of Cambodia going the "Myanmar way", while arguably not impossible, they may have over-reacted this time.