Legal notice | What's new? | FAQ | About EUROPA | Index | Search | Contact | Text version
Larger text size Smaller text size
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the trial of Sam Rainsy Party members
in Cambodia
Reference:  PESC/05/88    Date:  19/08/2005
HTML:   EN    FR    DE    DA    ES    NL    IT    SW    PT    FI    EL   
PDF:     EN    FR    DE    DA    ES    NL    IT    SW    PT    FI    EL   
DOC:    EN    FR    DE    DA    ES    NL    IT    SW    PT    FI    EL   
[Graphic in PDF & Word format]

COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION
EN

P/05/88

Brussels, 19 August 2005

11698/05 (Presse 210)

Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the trial of Sam Rainsy Party members
in Cambodia

The European Union regrets the way in which the trial of Sam Rainsy Party opposition members Cheam Channy and Khom Piseth was conducted, and the verdict passed on them by a military tribunal in Phnom Penh on 9 August, following charges of organised crime (recruiting an illegal armed force) and fraud.

The credibility of the verdict has been seriously flawed by the military tribunal's non-observance of a number of the defendants' legal rights. The European Union is also concerned about the lack of an effectively functioning judiciary in Cambodia and any politicisation of the armed forces, and attaches importance to the clear separation of powers, to the independence of the judiciary and to the absence of any political interference in the judiciary and the armed forces.

We note that Cheam Channy and Khom Piseth can lodge an appeal at the civil appeal court and ask His Majesty the King and Head of State for a pardon.

The European Union urges the political leadership of Cambodia to allow all political parties to operate without hindrance or intimidation. The European Union expresses the hope that, in the interest of a harmonious national development, all political leaders will recognise their duty to perform their respective functions according to the law and in a constructive way.

The European Union will continue to closely follow the situation.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.