Fact Check: No Arrest of Interior Minister Sar Kheng as a Claim
Sar Kheng – a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and also Vice President of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) – has been considered as a leading candidate for the prime ministerial post in CPP. This leads to rumors and claims related to his situation. One of the claims said Sar Kheng had been arrested. The claim had been multiple shared by Khmer-speaking social media users along with many comments and reactions. After our investigation, however, it proves the claim is false.
Social Media Claim
In last April, a Facebook user posted a claim saying Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng had been arrested. The claim had been shared many times by Khmer-speaking Facebook users along with many comments and reactions.
Below is a capture of the claim posted by the Facebook user read: “Urgent news: Kralahom Sar Kheng has been arrested.”
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began verifying this claim by interviewing Cambodia’s senior police official and the Interior Ministry’s spokesperson, leading us to find out the truth as below.
In an interview with Fact Crescendo Cambodia on April 28, the National Police spokesperson Chhay Kimkhoeun rejected the claim and referred the questions to the Interior Ministry spokesperson.
In response to inquiries from Fact Crescendo Cambodia via Telegram, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Phan Sophanith also rejected the claim, saying the arrest would never happen.
Sophanith showed photos showing Sar Kheng leading a virtual meeting with Cambodia’s senior police officials and the ministry officials six days after the claim was posted on social media.
The photos of the meeting were also published on his official Facebook page on April 26, depicting Sar Kheng was leading the virtual meeting talking about actions and measures to curb and prevent cross-border illegal activities and the migration of foreigners from lockdown zones.
The meeting was also published by the official Facebook page of the National Police chief Neth Savoeun who virtually attended the meeting.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim as mentioned above is false. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng has not been arrested. Instead, he had fulfilled his duties from home and led a virtual meeting with his officials during the increasing outbreak of Covid-19 in Cambodia.
