- on paragraph 3:

  Jules Maaten (ALDE). – Mr President, in this amendment the name of one of the members of parliament was omitted by us and I would appreciate it if it could be inserted. It is the name of Chea Poch. It would then read: ‘the judgment against Sam Rainsy and Chea Poch’.

(Parliament approved the oral amendment)

- on paragraph 8:

  Charles Tannock (PPE-DE). – It is an addition, Mr President. One of the problems in Cambodia is that it has something in common with Belarus, whereby if you insult the Prime Minister of Cambodia it is deemed to be a criminal offence, which is very unusual in the modern world. Normally, an insult at worst is a civil offence and results in a fine or a defamation suit. In Cambodia you go to prison, hence the reason why some of these individuals have been imprisoned.

We wish to add the following text: ‘… and questions the need for defiling the office of the Prime Minister to be a criminal offence’.

  Marios Matsakis (ALDE). – Mr President, my English is not as good as that of my colleague, Mr Tannock, but I think ‘defiling’ is the wrong word. It is ‘defaming’, is it not? So can we make sure we have the correct wording in that oral amendment?

  Charles Tannock (PPE-DE). – I am very happy to accept the suggestion to change the word ‘defiling’ to ‘defamation’. That was my original intention.

(Applause)

(Parliament approved the oral amendment)