Thread by @RainsySam

MY PLAN TO RETURN TO CAMBODIA IN 2019
1/12 Concerning my plan to return to #Cambodia in 2019 I would like to clear some misinformation and misinterpretation related to my previous repatriation plans in 2013 and 2015. #SamRainsy

2/12 On July 8, 2013 I announced my decision to return BEFORE I received a royal “pardon”. #SamRainsy

3/12 After four years of forced exile due to unjust heavy jail sentences handed down on me in Cambodia, I publicly declared that I would return IN ANY CASE in my capacity as President of the then newly founded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). #SamRainsy

4/12 In 2013 I specified the reason for my determination to return: to be with my people before and during a crucial national election scheduled for July 28. #SamRainsy

5/12 It was only AFTER my public announcement that Hun Sen contacted me in Paris saying he would secure me a royal “pardon” for the sake of “national reconciliation”. #SamRainsy

6/12 On November 16, 2015 I was scheduled to catch an evening commercial flight to Phnom Penh back from Seoul where I was paying a three-day visit to Cambodian workers in South Korea. #SamRainsy

7/12 In the previous days Hun Sen had issued threats against me apparently to warn me against my scheduled coming back but I made it clear that those threats would not affect my plan. #SamRainsy

8/12 There were new dramatic developments the morning of the very day of my scheduled return from Seoul. The CPP-controlled National Assembly lifted my parliamentary immunity and the Court, under the orders of Hun Sen, immediately issued an arrest warrant against me. #SamRainsy

9/12 Shortly after, I was contacted by the US Ambassador in Phnom Penh who confidentially conveyed to me a message from Sar Kheng, who apparently did not agree with Hun Sen’s treatment of me. #SamRainsy

10/12 Sar Kheng begged me not to come back that night of November 16 because the situation would get "out of control" and he needed some time to find a compromise within the CPP so as to ensure my smooth and safe return. #SamRainsy

11/12 This was the hitherto untold reason why I decided not to catch that evening flight from Seoul in order to allow Sar Kheng and the US ambassador to discreetly sort out the situation. #SamRainsy

12/12 I have not exposed the background of my decision because it involved sensitive political and diplomatic considerations. But this information can now be “declassified” in order for us all to move ahead. #SamRainsy

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