Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is accused of putting a false map of the Vietnamese border on his party’s Web site, defended his position Thursday, showing reporters via video conference a 14-page report from a geographic expert that he said proves border demarcation has ceded land to Cambodia’s eastern neighbor.
The question of border encroachment is a highly charged political issue, and Sam Rainsy, who is in exile, faces a two-year jail sentence on charges related to the destruction of several border markers last year.
The government again sued him earlier this year for putting up a map he says proves Cambodia is losing land.
The report, by Regis Caloz, an expert in Geographic Information Systems, shows four different markers placed between 300 meters and 500 meters inside Cambodia’s original border.