'Yes I am Afraid'

The government often asserts that Cambodia's courts are independent, but one of the prime minister's closest aides, Om Yentieng, reportedly said that your release on bail is Hun Sen's gift to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.

Everybody in the international community and in Cambodia knows that the courts are not independent. After the judge questioned me, he actually looked scared; he knew that there was nothing to charge me with. He went to meet his boss, and when he came back, he said he had decided to arrest me.

So what will happen now?

The case continues. The reaction of the Cambodian people and the international community matters. I was freed because many Cambodians supported me. My organization received 11,000 fingerprint signatures calling on the king to intervene to free me and many Cambodians here and abroad pushed the international community to react. If they are quiet now, I will probably have to go to trial. But today, I still came to work and I am still mentally strong. Even after 17 days in prison, they cannot affect my mind.

Is Cambodia turning into another Burma, as opposition leader Sam Rainsy says?

If the international community doesn't take action now, it could follow that path. This government is testing the international community. When they charged Sam Rainsy and others before me [with defamation], the reaction from the international community was weak. Many countries said nothing. It was only when they began arresting many human rights activists that the international community finally reacted.