A Picture of Sam Rainsy Selling Bread on Street Digitally Edited

After Cambodia’s prominent opposition leader Sam Rainsy presented in a court in France to defend himself against a lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, a picture depicting the opposition politician riding a bicycle with a basket of bread at the back was uploaded on social media over two weeks ago. The picture had been multiple times by Khmer-speaking Facebook users along with a mixture of comments and reactions. However, running a Google Reverse Image Search clarifies the picture was edited.

Social Media Claim

More than two weeks ago, a Facebook user uploaded a picture showing Sam Rainsy – President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) – riding a bicycle with a basket of bread.

The picture had been shared many times by Khmer-speaking social media users, and there are many comments and reactions to the post.

This is a capture of the Facebook post on September 11, 2022, with a caption linked to the process of the lawsuit in a French court in Paris some weeks ago.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

The picture was also shared with social media groups that own many Facebook accounts as members.

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia began verification the picture by running a Google Reverse Image Search which led us to find out the facts below.

The photo of Sam Rainsy riding a bicycle along a street was found on post in the official Facebook page of the opposition leader over four years ago. The original image shows the self-exiled opposition leader riding a bicycle without loading anything at all.

The image was shot by a group of Reuters journalists who conducted an interview with him at his house in Paris in 2018, according to the post on Sam Rainsy’s official Facebook page.

Below is a capture of the Facebook post dating back to four years ago, and the caption says “Today [19 July 2018], with journalists from Reuters, at my home in Paris.”

Facebook Post | Archived Link

We also found the photo is one of four images published by the news wire service in a report saying about Sam Rainsy’s call upon the public to boycott the 2018 general election in which he was not allowed to run the race. Please read the full story here or archived link here.

Below is a comparison between an altered picture uploaded by a Facebook user and the image originally uploaded by Sam Rainsy’s official Facebook page in 2018.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the picture mentioned above was altered. The original image shows Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy riding a bicycle along a street in Paris without loading anything.