A Video Depicting Mong Ritthy Wiping Tear from His Eye Falsely Narrated
As Cambodia is heading to its main national election this month, a video depicting the country’s leading tycoon Mong Ritthhy – also a CPP senator – wiping tears from his eye has been going viral in recent days. It is claimed that Ritthy expressed his regret for Cambodia losing some of its territory to a neighboring country after he listened to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s speech saying an exchange of a village with Vietnam could be one option in the border demarcation with the neighboring nation. However, we found the claim is false.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A one-minute video depicting Mong Ritthy – a senator from the ruling party CPP and one of Cambodia’s leading tycoons – wiping tears from his eye was recently circulated on social media.
The video also shows Prime Minister Hun Sen speaking about an exchange of the hometown of Heng Samrin – the current President of the country’s National Assembly – to Vietnam in the process of demarcating the border with its neighboring nation.
The video was captioned that Mong Ritthy expressed regret for Cambodia losing some part of its territory in the border demarcation process with Vietnam.
The video has been widely shared and commented on by Khmer-speaking social media users in recent days – just about two weeks before the main national election on 23 July.
Below is the capture of the viral video which was captioned “Tycoon Mong Ritthy wiped tears from his eye, expressing regret after listening to Hun Sen spoke that Heng Samrin’s hometown was in part of Vietnam.”
The video clip has been circulated on social media by other Facebook users. Below is a link to a video post that got many comments, reactions, and shares.
The videos of the claim circulated on the Facebook platform can be watched here and here.
The same video of the claim has been also widely circulated on other social media platforms including Tik Tok. Below is the video shared on Tik Tok which got a lot of reactions, comments, and shares.
The same video of the claim going viral on Tik Tok can be watched via links here 1, 2, 3, 4.
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim by directly interviewing Mong Ritthy, leading to finding out the facts below.
On July 12, 2023, Fact Crescendo Cambodia reached out via Telegram to Mong Ritthy who later posted his clarification on his individual Facebook page.
In his Facebook post, Ritthy said the video was falsely described and politically motivated as the country is heading to the general election. The CPP senator said he wiped tears from his eyes due to sunlight.
Below is the link to Mong Ritthy’s Facebook post on July 12, 2023, after Fact Crescendo Cambodia sent an inquiry to him.
The tycoon sits behind PM Hun Sen who spoke in opening a private water park in Phnom Penh in August 2020.
At the ceremony, the premier said a village which is the hometown of Heng Samrin – the current President of the National Assembly – could be exchanged with Vietnam, an option the premier said used in the border demarcation with neighboring countries.
Watch the full video of PM Hun Sen’s speech at the ceremony about three years ago.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the claim mentioned earlier is false. The expression of the Cambodian senator Mong Ritthy – also one of the country’s leading tycoons – was not as what was claimed on social media. He clarified that he wiped the tears due to sunlight.
Title:A Video Depicting Mong Ritthy Wiping Tear from His Eye Falsely Narrated
Written By: Jay UdomResult: False
