Cambodian minister castigates Finland over fugitive's visa

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dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday December 7, 2006

Phnom Penh- Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong lashed
out at the Finnish government Thursday after it granted fugitive
disgraced former police chief Heng Pov a visa.
Hor Namhong held a press conference to circulate a letter he sent
to his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomioja, dated Thursday, in which
he accused Finland of harbouring Cambodian criminals.

"It is with great consternation that we learn that your government
has decided to issue a visa to Heng Pov, a convicted criminal," the
letter read.

"This is the second time a convicted Cambodian criminal has been
offered shelter in your country," it continued, referring to Sok
Yoeun, who was wanted in Cambodia to stand trial for an alleged
assassination attempt on Prime Minister Hun Sen. Sok Yoeun, called "a
pawn in a bigger political game" by Amnesty International and granted
refugee status by the United Nations, was granted asylum in Finland
after he was released from a Thai prison in 2004.

Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov fled Cambodia in July,
weeks before a string of arrest warrants were issued against him in
connection with a host of high-level assassinations and kidnappings.

He was convicted in absentia in September of masterminding the
2003 shooting murder of senior judge Sok Sethamony and sentenced to
18 years in prison.

Since fleeing Cambodia, Heng Pov has been seeking political
asylum, claiming to have information tainting the highest levels of
the Cambodian government and accusing powerful interests of framing
him to shut him up.

He was embroiled in a legal battle to avoid deportation from
Malaysia on visa overstay charges when Finland announced it had
granted him a visa, greatly increasing his chances of avoiding
deportation back to Cambodia to face trial.

"There are currently many criminals serving jail terms in
Cambodian prisons. We would be happy to send them all [to Finland],"
Hor Namhong wrote in his letter, unusually strong for a diplomatic
missive.

Hor Namhong told reporters that Finland's decision gave Heng Pov
free reign to defame the Cambodian government, which has denied all
his claims.

Other Cambodians to have been granted asylum in Finland include
the wife of slain union activist Chea Vichea, the investigation into
whose murder was overseen by Heng Pov.

The two men convicted of Vichea's murder charged they were forced
to confess by Heng Pov at gunpoint, and Heng Pov is himself now being
investigated in connection with that killing.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency