Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has threatened to follow home and beat protesters if they burn his image at the ASEAN summit in Australia next month.
The premier, who has ruled for more than 30 years, also appeared to threaten to boycott the meeting or veto any joint statements, claiming, "if there is no Hun Sen, there will be no ASEAN," the Phnom Penh Post reports.
In a speech to garment workers on Wednesday, Hun Sen claimed members of the Cambodia National Rescue Movement said that the United Nations, some ASEAN nations and Australia would put pressure on Cambodia during the summit, the Post reported.
The premier based his claim on a recording of a private phone call which he had received from an unnamed source.
Hun Sen has called the Cambodia National Rescue Movement, a group founded by former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a "terrorist" organisation.
Foreign nations, civil society and the UN have spoken out against Cambodia's ongoing crackdown on dissent, which has included the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the main opposition party, in November and the imprisonment of its most recent leader, Kem Sokha.
On Wednesday, Hun Sen threatened would-be demonstrators planning to protest at the Asean meeting in Sydney.
"I would like to send a message, do not burn my photo. If you burn my photo, I will follow you home...I will follow you and beat you at home," he said, according to the Post.
The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit is scheduled to be held from March 17 to 18.
