An Altered Young Hun Sen Dressed as a Khmer Rouge Soldier

The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has long been the target of rumors, critiques, and accusations in his political arena as national elections draw near. Recently, a picture of Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, as a young man wearing a Khmer Rouge soldier's uniform appeared on Facebook. Facebook users who speak Khmer have shared this photo a couple times. A Google Reverse Image search, however, reveals that the above-posted photo was actually altered.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On October 24, 2022, one of the Facebook users recently posted a picture showing Prime Minister Hun Sen dressed in a Khmer Rouge uniform, smoking a cigarette and carrying a gun. This photo was posted on social media along with reshare made by social media users several times.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started to check the above photo through Google Reverse Image Search which led us to find the truth as follows.

An exact photo of the same format and shape was found and posted on Getty Images, an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers. The above website does not show Hun Sen dressed in the uniform of the Khmer Rouge force at all, on the contrary instead, the photo shows a young man armed and in a Khmer Rouge uniform.

The following screenshot was captured from the website above with the caption stating in English as “Picture taken on April 17, 1975 at Phnom Penh during the civil war, showing a young "Red Khmer" (Khmer Rouge) guerrilla patrolling while the inhabitants are forced out of the town”.

Getty Images | Archived Link

The following is a comparison between the altered image and the original poster found on social media in Cambodia.

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia finds that the photo posted by the above Facebook users is factually altered. In reality, a young “Red Khmer” (Khmer Rouge) is seen patrolling in this image as the town's residents are being driven away. Photographed on April 17, 1975.