Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, has been a target of rumors and accusations in his political career for many years. Meanwhile, a photo showing Cambodian PM’s son, Hun Manet, wearing a Vietnamese army hat has been shared on Facebook . It was attached with a claim stating he was a Vietnamese son. The photo attached with this claim has been reshared with mixed reactions from Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search and rejections from Cambodian PM, it proves that the photo attached with the claim above is misleading.
This is about our investigation of this claim.
Social Media Claim
On April 1, 2022, one of the Facebook users shared a photo showing Hun Manet, Commander of the Cambodian Army and the eldest son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, wearing a Vietnamese army hat into a Facebook Group. The same Facebook user claimed that Hun Manet was a Vietnamese child. The photo attached with the above statement has been shared many times along with various expressions from social media users as well.
The following screenshot was captured from Facebook user’s post which translates in English as “#This is the most dangerous for the Khmer nation, where Vietnamese children are spreading more and more all over the country, and # Akon Yuon Le Duc Net is becoming a controversial rival with Sar Kheng, Tea Banh, Say Chhum, Pol Saroeun and many more senior officials”.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia started to check the above photo and claim through Google Reverse Image Search and the rejections made from the Prime Minister Hun Sen in the past led us to find the following facts.
An exact photo of the same form and shape was found on the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Facebook page posted on December 2, 2011. The following screenshot was captured from the Facebook page above that does not show Hun Manet wearing a Vietnamese army hat at all.
Fact Crescendo Cambodia also found that Prime Minister Hun Sen had repeatedly denied allegations that his eldest son was Vietnamese. The rejection of the above claim was published in local news media such as The Cambodia Daily on May 13, 2016, VOA and VOD.
The Cambodia Daily Link | Archived Link
Similarly, the above case of claiming that Hun Manet is the son of a former Vietnamese leader was also requested by Prime Minister Hun Sen to take action against a Cambodian-American who accused his eldest son of being a child between Bun Rany and Le Duc Tho.
Separately, Hun Manet’s mother, Bun Rany, was also frequently attacked and linked to as the wife of former Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho. Those claims were found and verified by Fact Crescendo Cambodia previously to be false, misleading and some were digitally altered photos. For more details, read the article in Khmer here “រូបថតលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន និងភរិយា ត្រូវបានកាត់តភ្ជាប់នឹងអតីតមេដឹកនាំវៀតណាម” and “តើភរិយាលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ពិតជាបានថតរូបជាមួយមេដឹកនាំវៀតណាមមែនឬទេ?”.
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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out that the photo attached to the above claim was misleading. The original photo does not show Hun Manet wearing a Vietnamese army hat during his studies at all. Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly denied that his eldest son, Hun Manet, was the son of a Vietnamese leader.
