Cambodia's bizarre freedom fighters

The Cambodian Government convicted and jailed 38 CFF members in early 2002 to sentences ranging from 5 years to life (There is no death penalty in Cambodia). Chhun was convicted in absentia and the Cambodian Government had since then been agitating for his return despite there being no extradition treaty between the two countries.

The Cambodian Government persisted in its campaign to have the CFF prosecuted as a terrorist group and regularly updated the US with fresh evidence of CFF activities in California. The efforts seem to have paid off. The Federal Government began its investigation of Chhun and the CFF in 2001 - after the 9-11 incident. It is surprising that the CFF escaped earlier US scrutiny.

The CFF was subsequently described by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) as a "terrorist group" with the "... avowed aim of overthrowing the [Cambodian] government".

On June 1, almost five years after the fact, Chhun was arrested on charges of "... conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to damage or destroy property in a foreign country and for engaging in a military expedition against a nation with whom the United States is at peace".

A second federal indictment a week later projected Chhun and his wife in a totally different light. They were charged for falsifying tax returns of Cambodian-Americans to illegally obtain tax refunds. According to reports, Federal prosecutors allege "Chhun preyed on poor residents by encouraging them to lie on their tax returns and then pocketing some of the refunds".

Chhun has hitherto been a small-scale hero in the Californian Cambodian community, the largest concentration of Cambodians outside Phnom Penh, for his willingness to stand up against the Hun Sen Government.

The Cambodian community in California tends generally to support the Republican Party and have become a not-unimportant source of funds and votes. Some believe, not without cause, that Chhun had been emboldened in his CFF activities because he had powerful political friends in Washington and that  had delayed earlier probes into the organisation. There have been reports that Chhun had helped raise funds for the National Republican Congressional Committee and reportedly attended meetings of the Committee's business advisory panel.

If convicted on the charge of murder in a foreign country, he faces life imprisonment. For the other charges he faces jail terms ranging from 3 to 25 years. Some of his sympathisers fear that if he were convicted, no one would replace him as the community's outspoken critic of the Cambodian Government.

In the last week, Chhun's image took a serious battering because of the tax charges. He is now seen as less of a hero and more of a common criminal. Both he and the CFF, which he helped found, face an uncertain future.