The immunity of opposition Senator Thak Lany (pictured) is on the line after Prime Minister Hun Sen accused her of "slander" and "incitement". Facebook

Thak Lany immunity vote today

The Senate is set to vote today on whether to strip the senatorial immunity of opposition Senator Thak Lany, after the body’s permanent committee yesterday decided to hold a plenary session following a request by the Appeal Court.

A letter released after the 13-member committee’s meeting, signed by the Senate Secretary-General Um Sarith, stated that the session would be held at 8am.

According to Senate spokesman Mam Bunneang, 10 committee members voted to send the court’s request to remove Lany’s immunity to a full vote.

Lany has been accused by Prime Minister Hun Sen of “slander” and “incitement” for allegedly suggesting he was involved in the murder of prominent political analyst Kem Ley.

While the motion to remove her immunity requires a two-thirds majority vote, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party holds more than enough seats in the chamber to approve it.

Commenting on the swift granting of the Appeal Court request, Bunneang said that there was no stipulated timeframe for such matters and the committee also wanted to ensure senators could quickly return to their communities to register to vote.</s>PHNOM PENH, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Cambodia's Senate stripped an opposition senator of immunity from prosecution on Thursday, allowing a court to charge her over comments about Prime Minister Hun Sen amid increasing nervousness over speaking out against the government.

Hun Sen filed a suit against Senator Thak Lany for accusing him in a speech of being behind the July killing of government critic Kem Ley.

A lawyer for Lany, who now faces charges of defamation and incitement, denied the senator had ever made such an allegation.

"Today, we give the rights to the court to bring charges, the immunity was successfully stripped," Senate spokesman Mam Bunneang told reporters, adding that all 46 ruling Cambodian People's Party Senators voted in favour.

Critics have become increasingly worried about speaking their minds about authorities, said Ou Virak of the Future Forum think tank.

"Following the death of Kem Ley, many critics have been afraid to speak out," Virak said.

Hun Sen has ruled with an iron fist for more than 30 years, defeating all challenges to his authority, but he faces a young electorate which appears increasingly hungry for change.

In recent months, tension has been rising between Hun Sen and an opposition hoping to challenge his grip in local elections next year and a general election in 2018.

Several members of the opposition and activists have been jailed as part of what they say is a government crackdown to silence critics ahead of the elections.

On July 10, Kem Ley, a prominent activist and frequent critic of Hun Sen, was murdered in the capital Phnom Penh and Ley's family have fled abroad fearing for their safety.

A suspect has been arrested and police said they believed Kem Ley was killed because of a debt. Activists believe his murder was political. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>BANGKOK, June 29 – Thailand’s First Army Region Commander, Lt-Gen Udomdej Sitabutr on Wednesday denied as spurious the idea that Thai troops will attack Cambodia on July 1 as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sun reportedly claimed.

The Thai military has a clear policy that it will not invade other countries but will retaliate only after being attacked first, he said.

Gen Udomdej said the Cambodian military has moved more infantry units closer to Thailand’s northeastern border province of Sa Kaeo, however, there has been no report of reinforcement of armoured vehicles or heavy weapons. The move, he said, has not affected the border situation.

However, the first army region commander said he has ordered his subordinates to step up security measures including a strict check on people and vehicles which approach the border checkpoint and sought negotiation to ease problems such as talks by the regional border committee earlier scheduled in April.

Cambodia however has not yet responded to that.

Gen Udomdej also denied reports which link the border situation to an attempt to provide an excuse to cancel Thailand’s general election on July 3.

Thailand on Saturday announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention (WHC) at the WHC meeting in Paris, saying the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of Cambodia’s unilaterally-proposed Preah Vihear temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty.

‪‪Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear temple was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

In April, Cambodia asked the court to clarify its 1962 ruling on the ancient Hindu temple on its disputed border with Thailand following recent deadly armed clashes between the two neighbouring countries.

The court, based in The Hague, ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim ownership of 4.6-square-kilometre of the surrounding area. (MCOT online news)
The Parliament of Cambodia plans to strip political immunity for opposition politician Thak Lany of the Cambodia National Rescue Party alliance after she criticized Prime Minister Hun Sen.