Former Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha was yesterday sentenced to 27 years in jail for treason in a case denounced as a “miscarriage of justice.”
Arrested in 2017 in a midnight swoop involving hundreds of security forces, Kem Sokha was accused of hatching a “secret plan” in collusion with foreign entities to topple the government of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The 69-year-old, who cofounded the now-dissolved National Rescue Party, has long been a prominent adversary of Hun Sen, who critics say has wound back democratic freedoms and used the courts to stifle opposition.
Photo: EPA
Kem Sokha has repeatedly denied the charges against him, which rights groups say were designed to bar him from politics ahead of July elections.
Immediately after the verdict at the Phnom Penh court, he was placed under house arrest and banned from meeting foreigners and anyone who is not a family member without permission of the court.
US Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy, who was at the court, slammed the trial and sentence as a “miscarriage of justice.”
“The United States is deeply troubled by the conviction of respected political leader Kem Sokha,” he told reporters.
In August last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Kem Sokha during a visit to Phnom Penh, where he raised concerns about the kingdom’s ailing democracy in talks with Hun Sen.
The verdict shows “authoritarians have won” in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said. “This is Cambodian democracy hitting rock bottom.”
As Kem Sokha was led away from the court, he smiled and greeted diplomats.
Kem Sokha has one month to appeal the conviction and jail sentence.
Two months after Kem Sokha’s arrest in 2017, the Cambodian Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party, once considered the sole viable opponent to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
That paved the way for the Cambodian People’s Party and Hun Sen to win all 125 parliamentary seats in 2018, turning the country into a one-party state.
Scores of opposition figures were convicted of treason last year, some in absentia — the latest squeeze on opponents ahead of elections.
Last month, Hun Sen ordered the shutdown of one of the country’s few remaining local independent media outlets after taking issue with a news report about his son.
Kem Sohka’s trial illustrated the “frightening problem of the state control of the judiciary,” Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said.
“Sending Kem Sokha to prison isn’t just about destroying his political party, but about squashing any hope that there can be a genuine general election in July,” she added.
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