Fact Check: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Is Still Alive
The health of Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, has always been a topic of discussion and sharing on social media among the supporters from the opposition party. Meanwhile photos showing Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, laying on Hospital bed were posted recently on Facebook. This post was attached with a claim and linked that he has already passed away. It was reacted with mixed comments and shared by many Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search and checking in his official Facebook page, it proves that the photos attached with the claim above were altered.
This is about our investigation of this claim.
Social Media Claim
On November 20, 2021, one of the Facebook users posted 4 photos, one of them showing Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, lying in a hospital bed with top officials attending the visit, and another photo showing a bouquet of flowers with a photo of Hun Sen attached to the caption: “Hun Sen's body, Hun Sen's cremation in Phnom Penh Kampong Cham or throw it to the dogs to eat?”. This post has received mixed reactions from many Cambodian Facebook users.
The following screenshot is captured from the Facebook user’s post that translates in English as “Better to build for them to remember than to build sin for them to hate! Born empty, Die empty...Money can buy everything! but immortality cannot be bought”.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started reviewing and verifying this photo attached with the claim by running its photo search engine in Google and by checking the recent posts posted on the official Facebook page of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
News of the death of a country's leader should be officially announced by the government and both public & private media. An exact photo was found on Tea Banh's official Facebook page on August 19, 2019, showing Mr. Tea Banh and the other leaders of the Ministry of Defense visited Bou Thong, who is being treated at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh.
The following is an excerpt from the Facebook page of Defense Minister Tea Banh which translates in English as “On the afternoon of August 17, 2019, I visited His Excellency Bou Thong, Advisor to Samdech Vibol Sena Pheakdey Say Chhum, President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia, who is being treated at Calmette Hospital”.
Similarly, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen's Facebook page, he also posted his activities and views at the ASEAN-China Special Summit on November 22, 2021 recently as well. The following is an excerpt from the Prime Minister's official Facebook page which translates in English as “Samdech Techo Hun Sen attends the Special ASEAN-China Summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of relations likely to have a conversation partner at the Peace Palace on Monday morning, November 22, 2021”.
This similar case was also investigated and verified by the Fact Crescendo Cambodia team on June 30, 2021 ago. The following is a screenshot captured from the website entitled “Prime Minister Hun Sen is still in Good Health Condition”.
Fact Crescendo Cambodia Report | Archived Link
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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the photos posted by the above users are altered. This photo had been edited before posted on social media. This photo was taken when Tea Banh visited Bou Thong in Calmette Hospital and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, is still alive and also appeared at the special ASEAN-China summit on November 22, 2021 recently.
