A day after a top army general warned that his troops were ready to arrest the opposition’s leaders, military helicopters, navy vessels and troops were yesterday deployed for “exercises” in extreme proximity to the Cambodia National Rescue Party’s Phnom Penh headquarters. 군의 한 장군이 자신의 병력이 야당 지도부를 체포할 태세를 갖추고 있다고 경고한 지 하루만에, 군용 헬기와 해군군함과 병력들이 어제 프놈펜 야당인 민주구국당 당사 근처에서 "군사훈련"을 한다는 핑계로 배치되었다.
As party activists watched on at about 5pm, four of the military’s Chinese-built Z-9 helicopters swooped repeatedly over the building on National Road 2 where CNRP acting leader Kem Sokha is hiding to avoid arrest – the choppers descending low enough for bystanders to see the crews inside. 약 오후 5시경, 중국제 Z-9 헬기 4대가 임시 당수 껨 속카가 은신해 있는 민주구국당 당사 상공을 비행했는데, 굉장히 낮아서 헬기 내부 승무원들이 행인들의 눈에 다 들여다 보일 정도였다. (밝은 하늘: 캄보디아군이 중국제 헬기 Z-9을 운용한다는 얘기는 이 헬기 외에도 중국산 무기를 더 쓰고 있을 수 있다는 걸 암시한다. 캄보디아가 중국에 많이 의존하고 있다는 사실의 반증이기도 하다. 실제로 국제사법재판소의 남중국해 판결이 난 이후 남아시아 국가들이 모여 이 판결에 대한 후속조치를 논의하는 자리에서 캄보디아가 유일하게 중국을 편들어 모임자체가 불발로 끝났다는 기사를 읽은 기억이 난다.)
The display followed another pass earlier in the afternoon by the Z-9s, seven of which could be seen circling Phnom Penh from about 11am.
Meanwhile, behind the property, which abuts the Tonle Bassac River, the Post watched as two speedboats and a larger patrol vessel with a mounted machine gun ferried more than 20 soldiers in camouflage fatigues back and forth.
One of the speedboats, carrying about six troops, moored about 30 metres from the property, while the other two – which were earlier accompanied by a third speed boat, according to witnesses – lurked nearby.
“This is an action to frighten people,” said CNRP supporter Pen Chan, 43, as he watched on from the riverbank.
CNRP commune councillor for Chamkarmon district Kim Savuth, 42, also decried the “intimidation”, as he recalled convoys of troops passing the headquarters.
“At about 1:30pm, about 10 trucks with 10 soldiers each, armed and with full black masks, drove past slowly, then later about four came back past,” Savuth said.
“This must be a plan from the government leaders . . . They are trying to threaten or arrest my political leader; if not, why did they come here?”
At about 4pm, another convoy of armed and masked troops – bearing the insignias of the Prime Minister’s Bodyguard Unit – was spotted travelling towards the headquarters.
The display came a day after an interview with four-star General Kun Kim was released, in which the deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces said the army would “guarantee to arrest” the opposition’s leaders if it received a court order.
Sokha will be tried – presumably in absentia – next week for refusing to submit to questioning over his alleged affair with a hairdresser. CNRP president Sam Rainsy fled the country last year to avoid arrest in a separate case. Both men face a slew of cases widely considered politically motivated.
However, reached yesterday, Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said the manoeuvres were “not related” to the CNRP, whose spokesmen could not be reached yesterday.
“They can do their operation in air, water and ground; those locations do not belong to [the CNRP],” he said, denying it was a threat. “Only the people who have done something wrong feel intimidation.”
Hing Bun Heang, head of the premier’s Bodyguard Unit, said the “exercises” were simply part of ongoing preparations for the unit’s upcoming anniversary parade on Sunday.
He laughed when asked whether the deployment was linked to plans to arrest Sokha. “If they were arresting him, why would they need to use a helicopter?” he asked.
“Why do you ask such a crazy question?”