Khmer Rouge Leaders Celebrating Christmas Altered
Christmas is a Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus. It is celebrated on December 25th in many countries every year. Meanwhile, a viral photo showing Khmer Rouge leaders celebrating Christmas was posted recently on Facebook. This photo also showed the luxury car behind while the top leaders were standing and wearing Christmas hats. It was reacted with mixed comments and shared by many Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo above was altered.
This is about our investigation of this photo.
Social Media Claim
On December 20, 2021, one of the Facebook users posted a photo showing the view of the celebration of Christmas by the Khmer Rouge leaders. The same user did not specify the location and specific details of the view of that photo. This photo has been shared thousands of consecutive times, along with mixed reactions and expressions from Khmer-speaking Facebook users.
A screenshot captured from a Facebook user’s post showing Khmer Rouge leaders with the caption “Merry Christmas, what do you want? Angkar will prepare for you”.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.
A photo of the exact same form and shape was found on Alamy, one of the large audiovisual websites. This website also confirmed the location and identity of the Khmer Rouge leaders as well. The following screenshot was taken and captured from the Alamy Stock website that states in English as “Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Leadership. Left to right: Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Vorn Vet with senior cadre, probably at Pochentong Airport c. 1977. Khmer Rouge Leadership: Pol Pot = Brother No 1, Nuon Chea = Brother No 2, Ieng Sary = Brother No 3. Son Sen, Vorn Vet”.
This photo was also published on VOA Cambodia news website on May 23, 2016. The same website above did not show the view of former Khmer Rouge leaders celebrating Christmas together at all. The following screenshot was captured from a local news website that states in English as “Democratic Kampuchea leaders and members of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). Facing forward from the left, Pol Pot, CPK Secretary and Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea, Nuon Chea, Deputy Secretary of the CPK and DK President of the People Representative Assembly, Ieng Sary, Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs, Son Sen, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense, and Vorn Vet, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy, in 1977. The photo was taken by a Khmer Rouge photographer (the name is unknown), at Pochentong International Airport, Phnom Penh. (Documentation Center of Cambodia Archives)”.
VOA Cambodia Link | 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 photo posted and claimed by the above user was altered. This photo had been edited before it was posted on social media. The original photo does not show the former leaders of Khmer Rouge celebrating Christmas at all. This photo was taken in 1977 at Pochentong International Airport, Phnom Penh.
