PHNOM PENH, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that mass protests could break out nationwide if Kem Sokha, vice president of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, did not apologize for his denial of the existence of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison during the Democratic Kampuchea, or Khmer Rouge regime, from 1975-1979.
"Large scale demonstration can happen not only in Phnom Penh, but also in provinces, where Kem Sokha is present," the premier said during the inauguration of new achievements at a Buddhist pagoda in eastern Kampong Cham province.
"He (Kem Sokha) spoke without responsibility," Hun Sen said, adding that this was the individual conflict between Kem Sokha and Cambodian people, not the conflict between the ruling Cambodian People's Party and the opposition party.
"I'd like to suggest that if there are protests against him, all protests must be non-violent in order to maintain dignity and public order," he said.
Kem Sokha left Cambodia for the United States on Wednesday.
"The protest can be held when Kem Sokha returns to Cambodia," Hun Sen said.
Chhum Mey, president of the Victims Association of Democratic Kampuchea and one of the survivors from the Tuol Sleng prison, said Thursday that the association had set the deadline on June 3 for Kem Sokha to apologize for his denial of the existence of the Tuol Sleng prison.
"When the deadline comes and Kem Sokha has not come to the former Tuol Sleng prison for apology, we will stage a mass protest against him," he told Xinhua over telephone, adding that the protest date had not been determined yet.
He said Kem Sokha's remarks insulted people who lost lives at the prison and elsewhere in the country during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Phnom Penh's former Tuol Sleng prison was a main torture center during the regime, and around 14,000 people were killed at the center.
In February last year, the Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) sentenced ex-chief of Tuol Sleng prison Kaing Guek Eav to life in prison for overseeing the deaths.
The apology demand was made after Kem Sokha said that the Tuol Sleng prison was an artifactial killing place displayed for photographs.
"If this place (Tuol Sleng prison) was truly Khmer Rouge, they would have demolished it before they left, not kept it to show everyone," Kem Sokha said in a short audio recording circulated by the government.
"If the Khmer Rouge killed a lot of people, they would not be stupid to keep it to show to everyone, they would destroy it to eliminate evidence. I believe that it was just staged," he said at his party's public forum.
However, the Cambodia National Rescue Party issued a statement earlier this week, stating that Kem Sokha has never denied the genocide, the tortures and the killings of Cambodian people such as that in Tuol Sleng prison, committed by the Khmer Rouge.
"A small part of Kem Sokha's speech has been recently picked up and twisted by a group of people to provide misinterpretation on the meaning of the speech," the statement said. "This manipulation is politically motivated as the general election is approaching."
Cambodia is scheduled to hold a general election on July 28.
Eight parties will run in the election, according to the National Election Committee. Three major parties, among them, are the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Cambodia National Rescue Party led by self-exiled leader Sam Rainsy, and the royalist Funcinpec Party headed by Princess Norodom Arun Rasmey, the youngest daughter of late King Father Norodom Sihanouk.
Analysts predict that Hun Sen's party will definitely win a landslide victory in the upcoming polls.
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