Cambodia lawmakers, stripped of immunity, protest

Cambodia's Parliament stripped immunity Monday from two opposition legislators who face defamation lawsuits by the prime minister and senior military officers. The two accused Parliament of serving the prime minister's interests as colleagues staged a walkout.

The National Assembly stripped immunity from prosecution from Mu Sochua and Ho Vann, both from the Sam Rainsy Party, pending a court investigation of the defamation lawsuits.

Mu Sochua told reporters the immunity was lifted to serve the political interests of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling party, which dominates Cambodia's political scene. Immunity protects lawmakers from both criminal charges and civil suits.

All 26 members of the legislators' party walked out of the lower house of Parliament after the vote, wearing masks to express that their rights of free speech had been blocked.

The case against Mu Sochua came after her attempt to sue the prime minister for what she says were defamatory remarks made about her during two speeches.

In early April, Hun Sen referred to an unnamed lawmaker as a "strong leg," a term seen by some in Cambodia as particularly offensive to women. Mu Sochua has said the speech clearly referred to her. She also denounced his remarks in another speech.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court rejected her lawsuit earlier this month, saying it was groundless, but it moved ahead with the prime minister's countersuit.

Close military allies of Hun Sen filed a lawsuit against Ho Vann after a local newspaper quoted him as allegedly saying in April that 22 senior military officers had received meaningless awards from Vietnam.

Last week, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia and New York-based Human Rights Watch criticized the lawsuits against the lawmakers.

"The lawsuits undermine the constitutional freedom of opinion and expression," the U.N. said in statement.

Human Rights Watch said Hun Sen had "a long history of trying to muzzle Cambodia's political opposition and undermine the independence of the legal profession."