Fact Check: Sam Rainsy’s Photo Looking Old Altered
A former leader of Cambodia’s largest opposition party, Sam Rainsy. who once received 55 seats out of the 123 parliament seats, has now been living in exile since 2015 and has recently been criticized among the Cambodian supporters.
Meanwhile a photo showing a Cambodian politician and opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, look like an old man was posted by a Facebook user recently. This photo was reacted with mixed comments and shared by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, after reviewing an original photo on Sam Rainsy’s official Facebook page, it proves that the photo above was actually altered.
This is about our investigation of this claim.
Social Media Claim
On September 13, 2021, one of the Facebook users recently posted a photo that shows the former president of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, Mr. Sam Rainsy, with an old face. Mr. Sam Rainsy had left France and went to the United States on August 18 to complete a long-term mission especially he plans to lead party officials to meet with relevant US officials to discuss the current situation in Cambodia.
This photo attached with the claim above has received mixed reactions and comments from Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. A screenshot captured from the above user’s post that translates in English as “Want to laugh at Sam Rainsy's side choosing to have a secret meeting on Zoom. How secret if all the meetings have been recorded. This little silly thing leads him to lose all the time and never win”.
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.
Sam Rainsy the former president of the National Rescue Party , , shared an album on September 12, 2021, which includes an exact photo showing him sitting on the truck. This original photo does not show he is getting old nor looking old as posted by the Facebook user above .
A screenshot captured from Sam Rainsy's official Facebook page with the caption that translates in English as “CNRP meeting in Seattle, Washington state, USA. Our Cambodian brothers and sisters in the United States clearly understand that the CNRP is the only hope for the Khmer people. They are committed to using the freedom and resources they have in the United States to liberate the Cambodian people from power. Dictatorship and treason today led by Hun Sen”.
Follow Us and Stay Up to Date with Our Latest Fact Checks.
Facebook Twitter Telegram Google News
You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well as other Sam Rainsy’s stories checked by Fact Crescendo Cambodia:
- Has Sam Rainsy Passed Away As Claimed?
- Sam Rainsy In Vietnam Army Uniform?
- Sam Rainsy Sitting Nearby The Sleeping Dog Altered
- Sam Rainsy Dressed As Corpse Altered
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the photos posted by the above users are altered. This photo was edited before being posted on social media. This photo was factually found in Sam Rainsy’s official facebook page when he visited his supporters in the US on 12th September, 2021 and he is not looking old unlike the photo altered above.
