KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has detained the deputy leader of Cambodia’s banned opposition party, Ms Mu Sochua, an official said on Thursday (Nov 7), after Phnom Penh sought her arrest on grounds that she and other self-exiled opposition were plotting a coup in trying to return home.
The detention came as Sam Rainsy, the founder of the opposition party, prepared to fly from Paris to Bangkok, vowing to return to Cambodia on Saturday to lead demonstrations against the one-party rule of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Ms Mu Sochua, 65, flew into Kuala Lumpur on her US passport and was being questioned at the airport, but Malaysia had not decided whether to deport her to Cambodia to face trial, said Malaysian foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
“We have received a request, but we decide on our own,” Mr Saifuddin told reporters.
“We are a pro-democracy government, we follow things very closely, but at the same time we cannot interfere in what happens in other countries,” he said.
However, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia is looking for a third country to send Ms Mu Sochua.
“Our principle, in Asean in particular, generally is that we don’t interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” Tun Dr Mahathir said referring to the Association of South-east Asian Nations.
“We do not want to let them to use Malaysia as a base for struggle in other countries. We wanted to deport her … now we are trying to find any country that can take her.”
It was unclear if any of the dozens of opposition figures abroad would reach Cambodia for the planned rallies.
A former women’s minister, Ms Mu Sochua is vice-president of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and one of the highest-profile opposition leaders detained in Hun Sen’s efforts to prevent their return.
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Thailand denied her entry on Oct 20.
On Wednesday, she held a news conference in Indonesia to denounce a crackdown by Cambodian authorities, who have arrested at least 48 opposition activists this year and deployed troops along the borders in recent weeks.
“What do they fear?” she asked. “They totally fear the determination of the people of Cambodia, who are responding positively to our appeal, which is that together we will build a better Cambodia.”
She later flew to Malaysia, only to be detained.
Mr Jerald Joseph, an official of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, said he had spoken with Ms Mu Sochua in detention, who said she had been told she would not be deported to Cambodia.
It was not immediately clear where authorities would send her next.
Ms Mu Sochua fled Cambodia in 2017 amid a mass crackdown on the opposition. The party’s leader, Kem Sokha, was arrested on treason charges and remains under house arrest.
Cambodia’s Supreme Court later dissolved the CNRP.
The party of Mr Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, went on to win all the seats in parliament in a general election last year.
‘SPIRIT OF ASEAN’
Ms Mu Sochua’s news conference in Jakarta was interrupted by the Cambodian ambassador, who argued she should not be given a forum.
The Cambodian embassy later asked Indonesia, as a fellow member of Asean, to arrest her.
The embassy sought her deportation to Cambodia “in the true spirit of Asean”, it said in a statement, adding that similar requests had been made to neighbouring countries.
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Cambodian national police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun said Ms Mu Sochua had been charged in connection with a plot to topple the government.
“There is an arrest warrant for her. We really want her, but we don’t know what is Malaysia’s position,” he said.
Ms Sochua’s detention in Malaysia was ludicrous and unacceptable, said New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“She’s done nothing wrong and should be immediately released and allowed to undertake the consultations she planned with the Malaysia government and civil society groups,” said Mr Phil Robertson, the group’s deputy director for Asia.
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