The most influential opposition leader in Cambodia has been condemned to 27 years of house detention for treason. Kem Sokha, the former head of the defunct Cambodian National Rescue Party, is similarly prohibited from running for office or voting in elections.
He was accused of collaborating with foreign powers to overthrow the administration of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Since 1985, Hun Sen has been one of the longest-serving autocrats in the world.
In July, Cambodia will hold general elections. Some say he intends to transfer over control to his eldest son, Hun Manet, despite the widespread belief that he would run again.
69-year-old Kem Sokha was initially detained in 2017 based on a 2013 video in which he claimed to have received help from US pro-democracy groups.
He and his attorneys have disputed the charges and declared the case against him to be without merit.
The US ambassador to Cambodia, W Patrick Murphy, stated on Friday that the case was a miscarriage of justice.
Ang Udom, Kem Sokha’s attorney, stated that his legal team would challenge the verdict, as reported by Reuters.
Human rights organizations and Western countries have criticized the charges against him as politically motivated and without merit.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, stated,
“It was immediately apparent that the charges against Kem Sokha were nothing more than a politically motivated ploy by Prime Minister Hun Sen to sideline Cambodia’s most prominent opposition leader and eliminate the country’s democratic system.”
“Sending Kem Sokha to prison isn’t just about dismantling his political party; it’s also about crushing any hope that July’s general election would be legitimate.”
The group demanded that the conviction be overturned and that he be released “immediately and unconditionally.”
Few will be surprised by this ruling, given the Cambodian judiciary is commonly perceived to be firmly under Hun Sen’s authority.
Former human rights activist Kem Sokha led the Cambodian National Rescue Party. In prior elections, its popularity soared to the point that it seemed set to overthrow Hun Sen and his party.
His party was outlawed prior to the 2018 election. The majority of its leaders have been prosecuted or exiled.
Hun Sen shut down one of the country’s few independent media channels, Voice of Democracy, last month, citing the publication of an article that criticized his son and harmed the government’s reputation.
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