Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested in a police raid on his home early yesterday and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused him of treason with the backing of the US.
The arrest marks an escalation in a campaign against critics, independent media and any potential threats to Hun Sen’s hold on power ahead of an election next year at which Kem Sokha has been expected to be his main challenger.
The arrest came just hours after pro-government Web site Fresh News ran a report accusing Kem Sokha of discussing the overthrow of Hun Sen with support from the US.
Photo: AFP
“It’s an act of treason with conspiracy with a foreign country, betraying his own nation. This requires arrest,” Hun Sen told a group of garment workers according to the Web site.
Fresh News frequently runs leaks from inside the government that often precede an investigation or arrest.
Hun Sen, 65, has ruled the nation for more than three decades. The former Khmer Rouge cadre has been making increasingly strident verbal attacks on the US.
Kem Sokha, 64, has led the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) since his predecessor resigned in February, saying he feared a government plan to shut it down.
Pictures in Cambodian media showed Sokha being led away with his hands behind his back.
The government released a video on its Facebook page in which Kem Sokha appeared to tell a group of supporters about a strategy to win power which he said had the support of “the Americans” rather than an immediate plot to topple Hun Sen.
In the video, which the government said was shot in Australia, Kem Sokha said the Americans had hired academics to advise on strategy to change Cambodia’s leaders.
“And if I follow such a tactic and strategy and if I could not win, I do not know what else to do,” he said.
The CNRP called the arrest “politically motivated,” called for his release and urged the international community to intervene.
However, it made no immediate comment on the veracity or content of the video
The News Fresh report was based on a 2013 speech Kem Sokha gave to supporters in Australia
If Kem Sokha is found guilty of any offence, it could allow the government to shut the party under a new law that forbids parties from having a leader who has been convicted.
Kem Sokha’s daughter, Monovithya Kem, also a party official, said on Twitter that her father had been taken away handcuffed after a raid by between 100 and 200 police, who had arrived without an arrest warrant. She said his whereabouts was unknown.
The government has recently increased its rhetoric against the US and last month ordered the expulsion of the State Department-funded National Democratic Institute pro-democracy group. Earlier in the year, it suspended joint military exercises with the US.
“Freedom of speech is rapidly becoming a highly endangered right in Prime Minister Hun Sen’s march down the road to dictatorship in Cambodia,” Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said.
Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won local elections in June, but the opposition also did well, increasing expectations of a close contest in the general election due next year.
Additional reporting by AFP
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