Foreign Minister Hor Namhong plans to sue opposition leader Sam Rainsy over statements made Thursday linking the minister to the Khmer Rouge, an official said Friday.
In a ceremony to commemorate the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer Rouge guerrillas in 1975, Sam Rainsy said Thursday at least two ministers in the current government were cadres of the regime.
“One of them was secretary and interpreter of Pol Pot and who is senior minister and Minister of Economy and another current deputy prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs was director of Beoung Trabek prison,” Sam Rainsy said. “The director of a prison can point someone and this person will be disappeared.”
Keat Chhon is currently the Economy Minister, and Hor Namhong is the Foreign Minister.
Hor Namhong will file a suit against Sam Rainsy for the remarks, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Sim Bunthoeurn. “He will meet with a lawyer this Monday.”
Sam Rainsy could not be reached for comment, because he is abroad.
But Eng Chhay Ieng, SRP secretary-general, said Sam Rainsy had not mentioned Hor Namhong by name, nor accused him of killing anyone.
The party will defend its leader in court, he added.
Keat Chhon could not be reached for comment Friday.