Turkey- Cambodian graft body to probe opposition leader

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >Cambodia’s anti-graft body is set to investigate an opposition party leader alleged to have made questionable property purchases for a mistress in a case critics have described as “political”.

The scandal came to light after a series of private phone calls alleged to be those between Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) deputy leader Kem Sokha and a woman believed to be his mistress were leaked.

It deepened after a group of students filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) over concerns that the purchases were the result of corruption.

The Cambodia Daily reported Friday that ACU chairman Om Yentieng acceded to the request Thursday saying that the body would “take action” on the complaint after determining that it was in fact Sokha in the recordings.

Yentieng was quoted as saying that a committee would assess Sokha’s asset declarations from 2011 2013 and last year to determine whether or not the properties at the center of the scandal were declared.

CNRP spokesperson Yim Sovann could not be reached Friday but political analyst Ou Virak described the decision to investigate Sokha as “political”.

He told Anadolu Agency that the scandal -- from the recording and release of the tapes to the youth movement -- “came together quite quickly… it’s quite well-planned and not organic at all.”

Virak also addressed the backlog of cases before the ACU -- something the body in 2011 admitted was a problem -- as a signal of the depth of the country’s corruption problem and indicative of larger more pressing issues that the ACU’s time and resources would be better spent on.

In last year’s Corruption Perceptions Index non-governmental organization Transparency International ranked Cambodia 150th out of 168 countries.

“If they want to tackle corruption what about land concessions contracts… those are the big issues and nobody is investigating any of that stuff” Virak said Friday.

“Nobody ever seems to ask why these people record conversations illegally -- why not investigate that?” Preap Kol executive director of Transparency International Cambodia an NGO that monitors corruption told Anadolu Agency Friday that he had taken note of the swiftness with which the ACU pounced on the complaint.

“If the ACU has taken actions on other complaints in the same manner it will be of great benefit for Cambodian society” Kol said “otherwise there is bound to be some perception that the action on Kem Sokha's case might be influenced or motivated by politics.”

Kol said it is important to note that Sokha stands to be investigated on the back of recordings that were illegally made and that opening his asset declarations on this basis “is a new development under the ACU’s approach”.

“We hope that the ACU will undertake the same approach with senior officials from the Government based on such trace or suspicion of having committed corruption if they have accumulated properties or assets from sources that cannot be properly explained or illegal activities by comparing to their legal income -- as stipulated in article 36 of the Anti-Corruption Law.”

For a start and to avoid claims that it has double standards the ACU could look into the provenance of some of the country’s lavish mansions villas and luxury vehicles Kol said.

By Lauren Crothers