Former Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday a plan to assassinate him with a drone at his residence near Phnom Penh was uncovered several weeks ago by authorities who arrested a man suspected of involvement in the plot.
However, a top opposition party lawmaker said the claim was suspicious and would likely be used to designate opposition activism in Cambodia and abroad as terrorism.
“When they are called terrorists, the punishment is very serious, they could be imprisoned for many years, and they could persecute Cambodia’s opposition officials,” said Um Sam An, a senior official from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, who now lives in the United States.
Speaking at a school building inauguration, Hun Sen said an audio clip was recently sent to him that revealed the assassination scheme, which would have targeted him at his home in Takhmao town, about 11 km (7 miles) south of the capital, Phnom Penh.
He warned “all foreign entities” to stay out of Cambodia’s internal affairs – a statement he has made repeatedly over the years.
“Be warned – the plan to attack my Takhmao residence with a drone is real,” he said in central Kandal province. “Supporting such an attack threatens national security. Do not dare to harm or kill me.”
Cambodian police haven’t made any statements about an arrest related to the alleged assassination attempt.
Just ‘an excuse’
Hun Sen, 72, stepped down as prime minister in 2023 but retains influence as the Senate president and as the leader of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. His son, Hun Manet, now serves as prime minister.
A recent draft law would label “extremist opposition” members as terrorists -– possibly a way of targeting overseas opposition groups.
Most opposition lawmakers left Cambodia after the CNRP was banned in 2017. More recently, Cambodian activists and government critics in Thailand, Japan, Australia and elsewhere have faced legal threats or other forms of pressure from Hun Sen.
Um Sam An told Radio Free Asia that Hun Sen’s assassination plot claim was just “an excuse to protect the family’s power.”
“He will use it to tell the international community that democrats in Cambodia are not real democrats – that they are a terrorist group that must be suppressed,” he said.
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Um Sam An recalled an alleged bomb plot in 1997 that led to a fighting in the streets of Phnom Penh that saw Hun Sen overthrow Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who at the time held the title of first prime minister under a power-sharing agreement
There was another incident in 1998, when hundreds demonstrated in front of Hun Sen’s home in Phnom Penh. One person threw a grenade at the home, and Hun Sen responded by ordering the military and police to crack down on the protesters, Um Sam An said.
Assassinating Hun Sen with a drone at his heavily guarded Takhmao home would be almost impossible, political scientist Em Sovannara told RFA.
“Ordinary citizens do not have the ability to do this,” he said. “And I think that within the opposition party, it is difficult and they are not capable of doing such a thing.”
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.