'No forgiveness' for those who threaten peace: PM

• Published date: 10 March 2023
• Publication title: The Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen has reaffirmed that Cambodia will not forgive anyone - whether foreign or Cambodian - who threatens the Kingdom's peace through activities that compromise its independence or sovereignty.

The warning followed comments by several western countries about the 27-year prison term handed down to former opposition party leader Kem Sokha for conspiring with foreign powers to overthrow the government.

'We will not forgive anyone, either Cambodian or foreign, who uses the pretext of democracy or human rights to carry out activities against our independence and sovereignty, as this could lead us back to civil war,' he said while presiding over a March 6 graduation ceremony for students from the Institute of New Khmer Generation.

'I understand that some people based outside of Cambodia are sharing their concerns. [But] I believe they should pay closer attention to my concerns. Cambodia came very close to being lost to the flame of war in the past, largely due to the uncaring influence of foreign powers,' he stressed.

Hun Sen recalled his efforts to bring an end to the civil war, initially through talks with then-prince Norodom Sihanouk in France in the late 1980s.

On March 5, the premier posted a video about his press conference that followed his meeting with Prince Sihanouk. In the video, Hun Sen says that talks between Khmer and Khmer could find a solution for Cambodia, appealing to several different warring factions to come to the negotiating table.

On March 6, he elaborated on the video: 'Foreigners did not fight and die alongside Khmer patriots - they fled and...