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Hun Sen ហ៊ុន សែន
Hun Sen speaking at the World Economic Forum in East Asia (2010)
Prime Minister of Cambodia
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 November 1998
Monarch	Norodom Sihanouk Chea Sim (Regent) Norodom Sihamoni
Preceded by	Ung Huot
In office 1 May 1989 – 21 September 1993 Alongside Norodom Ranariddh: 2 July 1993 – 21 September 1993
President	Heng Samrin Chea Sim Norodom Sihanouk
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Norodom Ranariddh
Prime Minister of Kampuchea
In office 14 January 1985 – 1 May 1989
President	Heng Samrin
Preceded by	Chan Sy
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1952-08-05) 5 August 1952 (age 59) Peam Koh Sna, Indochina (now Cambodia)
Political party	CPP
Spouse(s)	Bun Rany

This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.

Hun Sen (Khmer: ហ៊ុន សែន; born 5 August 1952)^[1] is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia and leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1993, the CPP has been in a coalition with the royalist Funcinpec party.

His current, full, honorary title is Samdech Akeak Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen (Khmer: សម្តេចអគ្គមហាសេនាបតីតេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន). The title "Samdech" was attached to his name in 1993 by King Norodom Sihanouk. It is only an honorary title and does not give him further powers. He has a glass eye, the result of a wound sustained during the Khmer Rouge offensive against Phnom Penh in April 1975. Hun Sen is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and is one of the longest serving prime ministers in the world, having been in power through various coalitions since 1985.

Political career[link]

Hun Sen came to power with the Khmer Rouge and served as a Battalion Commander in the Eastern Region of Democratic Kampuchea (previous name of Cambodia). After falling out with the Khmer Rouge Hun Sen fled to Vietnam. ^[2] Hun Sen was selected by the Vietnamese for a leadership role in the rebel army and government they were creating for Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, Hun Sen was appointed as Foreign Minister of the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea/State of Cambodia (PRK/SOC) in 1979 and in 1985 he was made Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Prime Minister, after the death of Chairman Chan Sy until 1990, (with a brief interruption from 1986 until 1987). As Foreign Minister, Hun Sen was a key figure in the Paris Peace Talks, which brokered peace in Cambodia.

In 1987, Amnesty International accused Hun Sen's government of torture of thousands of political prisoners using "electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with plastic bags."^[3]

From 1993 until 1998 he was Co-Prime Minister with Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Norodom Ranariddh was First Prime Minister and he was Second Prime Minister. However, the actual power resided in the hands of Hun Sen because most of the high officers in Cambodia including the military were CPP members which led Norodom Ranariddh to be jealous of his Co-Prime Minister and led to a power struggle, directly resulting in the July 1997 military conflict.

In 1997, the coalition was shaken by tensions between Ranariddh and Hun Sen. FUNCINPEC began to collaborate with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels (with whom it had been allied against Hun Sen's Vietnamese-backed government during the 1980s), aiming to absorb them into its ranks.^[4]

In response, Hun Sen launched the 1997 Cambodian Coup, replacing Ranariddh with Ung Hout as the First Prime Minister and himself still as the Second Prime Minister until the CPP's victory in the 1998 election and thus becoming the country's sole Prime Minister in 1998. During that year the media broadcast him as the Strong Man of Cambodia which he later said was premature, and that the July 1997 was merely, the government taking action against the paramilitary anarchy that was sponsored and brought to Phnom Penh by Norodom Ranariddh.

In an open letter, Amnesty International condemned the summary execution of FUNCINPEC ministers and the "systematic campaign of arrests and harassment " of political opponents.^[5]

The elections of July 2003 resulted in a larger majority in the National Assembly for the CPP, with FUNCINPEC losing seats to the CPP and the Sam Rainsy Party. However, CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome and a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004. When Norodom Ranariddh was chosen to be Head of the National Assembly and Hun Sen became again sole Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Corruption[link]

Some political opponents of Hun Sen accuse him of being a Vietnamese puppet. This is due to his position in the government created by Vietnam while Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation and the fact that he was a prominent figure in the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (now known as the Cambodian People's Party), which governed Cambodia as a one-party state under Vietnamese military occupation from 1979 until elections in 1993. However, there seems to be no concrete evidence to show that this accusation has merits at all. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, saying that he represents only the Cambodian people.

Forced evictions and Sale of Cambodian land[link]

Hun Sen's government has been responsible for the sale of land to foreign investors in 2007-08 resulting in the eviction of thousands of residents from their homes.^[6]

Hun Sen was implicated in corruption related to Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources in Global Witness 2009 report on Cambodia. He and his close associates were accused of carrying out secret negotiations with interested private parties and taking money from those who he would grant rights to exploit the resources. However, the credibility of this accusation has been questioned by government officials and especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Hun Sen is married to Bun Rany. They have six children, 3 sons and 3 daughters: Manet, Mana, Manit, Mani, Mali and Malis. The youngest, Malis was adopted. Hun Manet is a 1999 West Point Academy graduate and obtained his PhD in Economics at the University of Bristol. In 2010, Manet was promoted Major General in the Royal Cambodian Arm Forces (RCAF) and became the Deputy Commander of the Prime Minister's Body Guard headquarters.

Although Hun Sen's birthday is officially celebrated on April 4, 1951, he had revealed that his actual date of birth was August 5, 1952.^[8] He had apparently lied about his date of birth to appear older when joining the Khmer Rouge as a youth.

See also[link]

	Cambodia portal
	Biography portal

• Modern Cambodia
• Politics of Cambodia
• People's Republic of Kampuchea

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Harish C. Mehta and Julie B. Mehta. 1999. Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia. Singapore: Graham Brash Pte Ltd. ISBN 981-218-074-5
• Elizabeth Becker. 1986, 1998. When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-891620-00-2
• Biography of Hun Sen Cambodia New Vision ~ newsletter of cabinet of Cambodia's Prime Ministerial office

v t e Prime Ministers of Cambodia since 1970 Khmer Republic: Lon Nol | Sisowath Sirik Matak | Son Ngoc Thanh | Hang Thun Hak | In Tam | Long Boret Democratic Kampuchea: Penn Nouth | Khieu Samphan | Pol Pot People's Republic of Kampuchea: Pen Sovan | Chan Sy | Hun Sen State of Cambodia: Hun Sen | Sen-Ranariddh Coalition | Norodom Ranariddh Kingdom of Cambodia: Norodom Ranariddh | Ung Huot | Hun Sen

Mr. Sam
Birth name	Samuel Paquet
Born	(1975-02-28) 28 February 1975 (age 37), Tourcoing, France
Genres	Techno, Trance, House, Progressive
Occupations	DJ, Producer, Remixer
Years active	1998–present
Labels	APPIA, Black Hole Recordings, Magik Muzik
Associated acts	As One, Blue Screen, Gangster Alliance, Green Screen, Human Angels, Madrid Inc., Mojado, Pure Harlequin, Red Karma, Red Screen, Tribute, The, Yellow Screen
Website	http://www.mrsam.tv/

Samuel Paquet (born February 28, 1975 in Tourcoing, France), better known by his stage name, Mr. Sam, is a French techno/trance music DJ and producer.

Biography and career[link]

[edit] Early career (1990-2002)

Born in a small town listening to music from Giorgio Moroder, Klaus Schulze and Elvis Presley he began to get in touch with the outside world and later grew up with his first Depeche Mode purchase which dragged him into the synthesizer based genre of music. Electronic dance music became his aspiration, at age sixteen he decided to pursue a musical career in Belgium. By age eighteen he had begun playing at underground clubs in which he played trance which was a fast growing style at the time. He later received an invitation to play at a major club, La Rocca, in Belgium. He embarked on tours in which he played with other DJs at Portugal, Holland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Corsica; he met Andry Nalin and played for 12 consecutive hours with him at a concert. Moving around Europe he managed to become resident at the clubs Lagoa, La Nova, Tour & Taxi, Pacha. It was not until 1999 when he was able to master and create his own remix for Diki Records which was Circuit Boys's "The Door", with the years he improved his remixing skills. In early 2000s he met Frederic de Backer and both worked under the alias Madrid Inc. with the song My Sunday’s Love which became a success and also marked his first steps to one of the most important dates in his life when Black Hole Recordings heard the July Summer Edition of Ministry Magazine’s free covermount CD with My Sunday's Love.^[1]

Rise to fame (2003–2007)[link]

In 2003, Sam was contacted by Magik Muzik which is a sub-label from Black Hole owned by Tiësto. Mr. Sam and Fred Baker presented a new alias, As One, with one song known as "Forever Waiting" which was released the same year. Learning did not stop for Sam as he and Tim Coltrane decided to collaborate as The Tribute; the track was picked up by Soundpiercing Records and it included a remix by Sam and Backer. Even though his first officially released single was "Pressurize" in 2002 as himself, it was not until 2003 when he collaborated with Rani Kamalesvaran to create his first vocal song; Fred Backer assisted him with the mastering and writing but was not part of the project. The single was released through Yeti Recordings with a remix by his close mate Tim Coltrane. In 2004 he and friend Dimitri Andreas released the first song from a list of popular songs as Mojado through Magik Muzik which was "Naranja". Even though Sam had begun the Mojado project, he still continued to create music as Mr. Sam on Black Hole such as Flying Around which featured "Crash Course In Science"; the song was arranged, produced, and written with the help of Coltrane. He was asked to create his first studio album for 2006, and he began working with the first single "Lyteo", which featured the vocals of Kirsty Hawkshaw and was his only release in 2005. The second single prior to the album was "Insight", which also featured Kirsty Hawkshaw and guitarist Benjamin Desmet. In 2006 his first studio album Lyteo was released with 14 songs, two of them pre-released. His first single released after the album was "Split" which also contained vocals from Hawkshaw and remixed by T4L and Jonas Steur. In 2007 Black Hole released a remix album known as Lyteo Interpretations which was also released through Maelstrom Records once it gained fame. Before 2007 ended he released his first DJ mix compilation known as "Opus" in which he featured many unreleased tracks then and later became world-known single such as the B-side by Andy Duguid Dreamcatcher, Global Experience's Madras and JES' In Ohm, all members of the Black Hole family.^[2]

[edit] APPIA Music (2008-present)

In 2008, Mr. Sam founded his own label known as APPIA, the sub-label belongs to Black Hole Recordings and it was created to release Sam's own work and to bring new talent selected by Sam himself, which also mades it possible for him to release his forthcoming album and his new Opus Secundo compilation.^[3] The first single from APPIA Music was Anasthasia which consists of Sam and T99, the second release is Dominator made by Mr. Sam and Human Resource which is the first single from his new album. Recently he released Opus Secundo through Black Hole where Opus was given birth, the compilation has opened the door to new talent like Emilio Fernandez who has recently joined the sub-label SongBird from Black Hole, and Vernal, dPen, Issues as well as one of his latest collaboration with Andy Duguid and Richard from Solarstone known as Hold My Breath.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]