'Yes I am Afraid'

What do you think would happen to exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who's been convicted in absentia of defamation and sentenced to 18 months in prison, if he returns home from France?

He can choose jail in Cambodia or stay abroad. If he is put in jail, people will react more. The government didn't want to arrest me, they wanted me to flee into exile. They floated rumors of my arrest, but I didn't leave.

Are you worried that anything you say in this interview could land you in jail again?

Yes, but I cannot stop. I have decided to work again, to criticize, and to express myself. But yes, I am afraid. I tell my people that I will sacrifice everything for freedom in Cambodia. They might not just put me in jail, they could kill me. But without human rights and democracy, my people will remain poor, they will suffer, and die ... How many years have passed since the UN elections of 1993, and how much money from abroad has this government spent? How many trees have they chopped down? They are squandering our natural resources and they take money from abroad. And with all that, look at how poor the people are and how rich the leaders are.

If you are gunned down one day, what message would you want to leave behind?

If I have sacrificed my life for this, it is so that others wake up; they must finally fight for democracy. They should know that I worked non-violently, and that I call on others to be non-violent, but to be relentless. People here and abroad should join together and continue this work. And the international community should support my people until they live in a real democracy. They should support this dream: that my people, my country no longer suffer dictatorship.

© 2006