Phnom Penh (FN), March 8 - Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy admitted on Wednesday in an interview with Phnom Penh Post that he had signed an agreement with Kok Ksor, the Vietnamese leader of the Degar indigenous group, in the United States in 2013, and said that the signing was made due to suppression of those ethnic minorities for centuries.

"I would like to officially recognize the legal rights of many indigenous groups called Montagnard, living in northeastern part of the country. These groups have been persecuted for decades. Their human rights have been severely violated...", stated Rainsy.

In that agreement, there is a phrase "Automnomous of the Indigenous" and that Sam Rainsy explained it is only a practice of decentralization that is consistent with the process of democracy.

Kim Santepheap, Spokesman of Ministry of Justice (MoJ), stated on Wednesday that Sam Rainsy may face life imprisonment for signing four Cambodian provinces to Vietnam, according to Article 440 of the Penal Code of Cambodia.

Sam Rainsy signed an agreement to hand four Cambodia’s provinces, including Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng to Vietnam, according to Facebook of Cambodia National Rescue Party’s activist “Rithy Erng” on Tuesday.
=FRESH NEWS