A Man Alleged of Insulting the King Falsely Linked to the Opposition Leader
A day after the national election on Sunday, a claim said a man was arrested in Kampong Speu province after he got money from the opposition leader Sam Rainsy to incite turbulence in the country a day before the Sunday election. The claim had been shared multiple times and reacted to by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, we found the claim false after reviewing some news pieces and interviewing sources.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A claim going viral on social media early this week said a villager was arrested by Kampong Speu police and sent to prison after he got money from Sam Rainsy – the opposition leader living in exile in France – to insult the King Norodom Sihamoni and cause turbulence in the country a day before the Sunday election.
Photos of the man were also uploaded with the claim which had been shared many times and commented on by many Facebook users speaking Khmer language.
Below is the capture of the claim written “Money Sam Rainsy – a three-generation traitor – giving to the person handed him to sleep in prison, and this is also another success for the traitor for the 2023 election. Thank peace.”
Below is one of the photos showing the money that was claimed he got from the opposition leader.
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim by running a Google Reverse Image Search which leads us to find out the truths below.
By running a Google Reverse Image Search, we found the photos of the man were in a news piece published by a local online media outlet CEN on Saturday – one day before the Sunday election.
Svay Sophat – the man in the photos – was arrested by Kampong Speu police after he said in a video live on his personal Facebook account. What he said was regarded as an insult to King Norodom Sihamoni, according to a report circulated by CEN on July 22, 2023.
Kampong Speu police also shared this news on its Facebook page, saying the man was suspected of incitement causing social turbulence, and insulting the King.
Below is the full story shared by the Kampong Speu police on their social media page on July 22, 2023.
One of the photos shared by the local police shows Svay Sophat in a video live on a Facebook account named Soeum Phan. See the video below.
Responding to an inquiry from Fact Crescendo, Kampong Speu police chief Sam Samuon dismissed the claim.
Nhuong Saroeun who claimed the owner of the Facebook account made the claim said in Telegram that he did not know the source of money Svay Sophat showed in the video. He added he got the information from unverifiable sources.
Cambodia held its national election last Sunday without having the country’s main opposition party Candle Light Party allowed to get in the race.
Then, Sam Rainsy and other senior opposition leaders urged voters to make ballots invalid to prove their dissatisfaction with the election.
After the Sunday election which shows the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won the most seats, PM Hun Sen urged voters who had shared their invalid ballots in a Telegram group chat to surrender unless they would be arrested.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the claim mentioned above is false. A villager Svay Sophat was arrested after he said in a video live on social media which is regarded as an insult to King Norodom Sihamoni. No clear evidence proves that he got money from the opposition network.
Title:A Man Alleged of Insulting the King Falsely Linked to the Opposition Leader
Written By: Jay UdomResult: False
