PHNOM PENH, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Friday that an arrest will be made within 24 hours if self-exiled former opposition leader Sam Rainsy returns to the country.
During a special interview with Cambodian media Fresh News, the prime minister said if Rainsy dares to step into Cambodia's soil on Nov. 9, 2019, he will be handcuffed within 24 hours.
His remarks came after Rainsy, 70, former president of the court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), announced earlier this month that he will return to Cambodia on November 9, 2019. However, political analysts see his announcement as "political warfare" and believe that he will not return unless the king grants him a royal pardon.
Rainsy has been living in self-imposed exile in France since 2015 to avoid at least a 16-year-prison sentence for a slew of criminal charges.
