Phnom Penh (FN), Feb. 11 – Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen on Saturday gave 72 hours to the VOD media outlet to publicly apologize for the misleading news saying that Hun Manet signed an agreement to provide assistance to Turkey on the premier behalf.

The premier announced that the Royal Government's lawyer is ready to file a complaint to the court in case VOD refuses to apologize.

For the premier, this broadcast is not only the story of Hun Manet, but the whole government’s management of the national budget.

Samdech also explained the allocation of the national budget as well as the process of providing assistance to Türkiye, which was made on 8 February 2023.

Samdech underlined that according to the law and practice in Cambodia, only the prime minister has the right to allocate budget under the National Budget Law.

Separately, other leaders, including the deputy prime minister, have no right to intervene in this matter, except for expense made within their institutions as stated in the budget law.

Premier Hun Sen said, "is the accusation against Hun Manet a political attack or an unintended mistake?"

“I spare 72 hours for public apology, both to the Royal Government and to Manet.”

"We want nothing more than our cleanliness and integrity, and do not consider this as a threat," Samdech said.

Samdech also asked foreign friends or civil society to do in-depth research before expressing their opinions.

On 9 February 2023, VOD published an article entitled "Government officials say that Manet's role on behalf of his father in providing aid to Türkiye is not wrong."

In this article, the journalists interviewed civil society organizations and government officials to express their views on the case. However, there are no documents showing that Manet signed the aid agreement to Türkiye.
=FRESH NEWS