Prominent Cambodian opposition politician Kem Sokha has been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of treason, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated.
The former leader of the dissolved opposition party the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested in 2017 and accused of conspiring with the US to oust Cambodia’s authoritarian leader, Hun Sen, who has ruled for almost four decades.
US ambassador W Patrick Murphy said the allegations, which Kem Sokha denied, were “fabricated conspiracy theories”.
Judge Koy Sao told the court in Phnom Penh on Friday: “Kem Sokha … is sentenced to 27 years in prison on the charge of collusion with foreigners committed in Cambodia and other places.” Kem Sokha, who has now been placed under house arrest, was also banned from running for office and from voting in elections.
Rights groups have strongly condemned the verdict, which they say is a warning intended to silence opposition figures months before national elections, which are due in July.
Amnesty International described the charges as “fabricated”, adding that the Cambodian justice system had “once again shown its jaw-dropping lack of independence”, while Human Rights Watch said Kem Sokha should be “immediately and unconditionally” released.
Kem Sokha was arrested in 2017, when hundreds of police raided his home in the middle of the night amid a crackdown on the media and critical voices. He has since spent years in detention and with restrictions on his movement, and has been banned from taking part in politics.
His party, CNRP, was dissolved shortly after his arrest, a move that eliminated the main opposition ahead of elections the following year. In 2018, the ruling party won all 125 seats in the National Assembly.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the case against Kem Sokha had been a ploy by Hun Sen “to sideline Cambodia’s major opposition leader and eliminate the country’s democratic system”.
“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,” Robertson said.
Under Hun Sen’s rule, civil society activists and opposition figures have been convicted in mass trials, newspapers and radio stations have been closed and legislation that restricts civil freedom has been adopted.
Earlier this month, Hun Sen ordered the closure of one of the country’s few independent media organisations, Voice of Democracy (VOD), accusing the outlet of attacking him and his son, and hurting the “dignity and reputation” of the Cambodian government.
At least 39 political opposition members are being held in Cambodian prisons on bogus charges, according to Amnesty International.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse in Phnom Penh
