The Cambodian government has targeted about 50 people in its most concerted legal offensive against its political opponents since 2017, according to copies of court summonses posted on Facebook on Friday. The people were charged for participating in nonviolent anti-government activities over the past three years.
Among the charged is Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer who has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government. According to a summons she posted on Facebook, she is to appear at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Nov. 26 to stand trial for conspiracy to commit treason and incitement to commit a felony. If convicted, she could face up to 12 years in prison.
The others face the same charges and also have court dates late this month. Several are believed to reside outside Cambodia.
A court spokesman was not able to confirm the total number of summoned on Friday, but Am Sam Ath, who works with the Cambodian human rights group Licadho, said that there were a total of 56 defendants on two lists.
Theary Seng has accused the government of abusing human rights and being undemocratic.
Hun Sen has been in power for 35 years and has often been accused of heading an authoritarian regime.
Several Western nations have imposed sanctions on his government, mainly after concluding that Cambodia’s 2018 general election was neither free nor fair.
The harshest measure came from the EU, which this year withdrew some trading privileges.
In 2017, Hun Sen upended the country’s politics with a wide-ranging crackdown on his opponents. Virtually all critical media outlets were forced to close or tone down their coverage, and the sole credible opposition political party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was forced to disband and its lawmakers were removed from the Cambodian parliament.
Many people believe that the Cambodian judiciary acted to ensure that Hun Sen’s party won the election, which it did by sweeping all seats in the parliament.
Theary Seng, who resides in Cambodia, said that she is not an official of the dissolved party, but a “vocal, strong, public supporter.”
“Needless to say, the charges against them [the other people summoned] are completely bogus as well,” she added.
She described the charges against her as “trumped-up by this Hun Sen regime in its attempt to intimidate and silence me. They would be laughable if not for the prison term that could, and most likely would, see me languishing inside Cambodia’s notorious prisons for decades.”
“Without a doubt, I am determined to appear [in court]. I will appear and represent myself for the court hearing,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
She said that a well-known international human rights lawyer, Jared Genser, has agreed to represent her, but it was doubtful if he would be able to attend court sessions, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions or the possibility of being banned from entering Cambodia.
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