Prince pleads his innocence
Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 15 July 1994
By Nate Thayer
A lleged coup plotter Prince Chakrapong made his first public comments from exile during an interview with Nate Thayer in Kuala Lumpur on July 9.
Prince Norodom Chakrapong went into exile in Malaysia on July 3 after troops surrounded a Phnom Penh hotel he was hiding in. He was accused of treason and being linked to a rebel force of up to 300 troops. They were persuaded to peacefully return to barracks before reaching the capital.
On his alleged role in the coup.
You know as a professional, it makes no sense. They say I had 200 people. Compared with more than 100,000. I am courageous but I am not stupid. Three hundred to compare with 100,000. What can they do? It is ridiculous to do that. In guerrilla warfare, yes. You know, in the jungle we can do that but in the town, how can we do that? Secondly, those responsible for the coup must stay with their troops, you know, at least to protect him, in case it is not successful. At least they know where to escape, to prepare the retreat, the withdrawal. Not to allow myself to be surrounded like that.......
If I knew anything, I would have gone into the jungle already or in the province. When I go into battle I tell no one the time, the day I go. Nobody knows what I am going to do, even my bodyguards don't know and nobody can find me. That is the reason I can survive ten years in the jungle. And all of us - General Sin Song has experience during 70-75. He was the Minister of Security more than 14 years. I have my military experience of more than 30 years and more than 10 years in jungle warfare. We are not young people who have just become Generals. We are professionals. How can we do that?
The government elected by Untac is collapsing, the regime is collapsing. But they must find someone as a, you know, as a wall to protect them. What they did finally is they found the people, Chakrapong and Sin Song........I say to you, for myself I think we don't need to have a coup. Because everybody expects the government is going to fall by itself. Why to make the coup illegally?......Everybody expects that this government must be changed. If this government must be changed, why do you need the coup, why? It is illogical to do that and it is illogical to have 200 or 300 men to make a coup.
You say that we, Sin Song and so on, are behind it. But how can you be assured that we are behind the coup. We have no voice to explain our point of view. Sin Song so called confessed, but who has come to ask him what he is really saying? Because what you know is only by the government , not by the people themselves who are responsible. If you have a democracy, you know, looking at even your country, the mafia even has a right to answer in public. Only the government says he confessed. What is the proof? They can falsify, they can change anything, they can make it up. Whoever has the power can make it up.
On the state of the government.
I have been very disappointed with what was organized by the United Nations, what has happened here. But never mind, the past is the past. I believe in the constitution, but what is now happening with democracy in Cambodia? Nothing is new. Nothing. Has Cambodia become as a dictatorship, but under another way, another form? It is more dangerous. Before I am fighting against the regime of the communists but now the so-called liberal democracy because on behalf of the liberal democracy they have made a dictatorship. It is more dangerous.
A lot of countries, the super powers and so on, they are looking just only at the face and artificially. It is very dangerous. But the super powers and the other countries forget. In any country, in your country, in the democratic country, if something is wrong, all the people who do something wrong must go, but the institutions must be there.... this government cannot stay forever, must be replaced. Make new elections and so on......The fruit is already ripe for the collapse of the government. Everybody is talking about that. Not just me, but everybody. The question is just a question of time already. Just only that.
The best way is new elections. They will give the people the choice to elect the Khmer Rouge or to come and enter the government. They don't need to make an amendment if the people choose the Khmer Rouge. We cannot. But if the Khmer Rouge are not elected, they have no reason to reject this constitution and the new government.
You know, I say if you don't choose something, no election, at least we can change the government because new faces, new people, can regain the confidence of the people. If we allow the same people to do the same policy, you lose the confidence of the people. I think that for the next election everybody will lose... a third party will win.
On the Khmer Rouge
The government is very smart. They know the whole world is very anti-Khmer Rouge. It is Khmer Rouge, Khmer Rouge. But what about the other problems? Yes, it is important the problem of the Khmer Rouge but it is more important the problem of democracy. The problem is there.
I ask your country and everybody: Is democracy more important than the problem of the Khmer Rouge or not? If you promote democracy the problem of the Khmer Rouge can be solved by democracy. The government must do a good job for the people. The only way to fight the Khmer Rouge is not fighting but through promoting a better life for the people.
So you think that this government has shown that it is incapable of dealing with the problems and needs to be changed?
Yes. First there is economic collapse. Secondly, security collapse. Third, justice for the people. Fourth, for the democracy.
Now, they ban everybody who dares to criticize the government, to put them in jail or put them somewhere. But the Constitution says that you can criticize, you have the right to free speech in the Constitution.
And, you know, everything goes down like economic, social, and security and a lot of people just dying for nothing.
Like I say to you, again the Khmer Rouge, in Anlong Veng and Pailin, many people lose their lives and materials but nobody is responsible. Only some commanders have changed. But who gave them the order to go attack? Who are responsible for ordering them to go to attack Anlong Veng and Pailin? Who takes this position? It is the responsibility of the government. Why to change only the men who just only execute the order? Nobody is responsible. In this government everything goes wrong but it is the fault of the others but never them.
On Hun Sen
Look at Hun Sen. Hun Sen conducts all the government and the party through the election and he lost. But he stays there. And this government has had no success. I don't ask the government to go undemocratically, like in a coup, but they must take responsibility as the people who are responsible for the country. Like the other leaders of democratic countries. Like your country, like France, like Japan. I don't ask them to go undemocratically, to make a coup d'etat, but they have to take responsibility for their job.
On the CPP after the coup attempt.
I think the CPP artificially still stays the same, but internally I think it is destroyed by Hun Sen. The majority in the CPP want to say something but they have no opportunity to express their thinking democratically. You know, in our party we have the congress, but Hun Sen is always against the Party congress. I think this is the beginning of the end of the CPP because Hun Sen destroyed everything. In the political ring and the military ring.....I don't know if the CPP can recover...It depends on the reaction of Sar Kheng and Chea Sim.
In the CPP now, nobody can control anybody because it is so divided, so divided. I can assure you it is so divided, so divided...the smaller commanders are worried about their safety and security. They are less controlled by the people in power. But according to experience, Hun Sen doesn't trust anybody now. I don't know who depends on who now. Hun Sen may use more and more the troops of Funcinpec, the cadres of Funcinpec also. Hun Sen arrests the CPP people to destroy the CPP. In this way, Hun Sen is a champion to destroy his own party for his own ambition. And what will Funcinpec do now? Funcinpec maybe now has more or less the possibility to make pressure against Hun Sen because Hun Sen is more and more isolated from his party. Now the main obstacle is over Chakrapong, Sin Song and so on. But the next target is Chea Sim and Sar Kheng. I think that in this way the strategy of the two is there. The two prime ministers agreed to have to, you know, divide the power.
Hun Sen is looking for security and military affairs and Funcinpec are looking for economic affairs and financial affairs.