27 Years In Prison For Treason For The Opposition Leader In Cambodia
The United States quickly blasted the conviction as a “miscarriage of justice” and said it disqualified Kem Sokha, the head of the opposition in Cambodia, from running in this year’s elections. Kem Sokha was sentenced to 27 years in prison for treason on Friday.
At his detention in 2017, Kem Sokha was charged with creating a “secret plot” in cooperation with foreign actors to overthrow the long-running government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Hun Sen’s longtime rival, the 69-year-old co-founder of the now-disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), is accused by detractors of stifling dissent and rolling down democratic liberties.
Kem Sokha has always refuted the accusations leveled against him, which rights organizations claim were intended to prevent him from entering politics before the elections in July.
He was immediately put under house detention and forbidden from seeing any foreigners or anybody who is not a family member without the consent of the court after the judgment at the Phnom Penh court.
His daughter Kem Monovithya stated that cops were now watching him at home.
W. Patrick Murphy, the US ambassador, denounced the trial and punishment as a “miscarriage of justice” while present at the court.
He told reporters, “The conviction of renowned political leader Kem Sokha is profoundly troubling to the United States.
In August of last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kem Sokha in Phnom Penh. While there, he also spoke with Hun Sen about the kingdom’s failing democracy.
The decision, according to Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch, demonstrates that “authoritarians have prevailed” in Cambodia.
The democracy in Cambodia is at its very lowest point, he told AFP.
According to an AFP reporter, Kem Sokha grinned and waved to the diplomats present at the court as he was being brought away.
I cannot believe this decision,” Chea Samuon, a fan, told AFP outside the court, where there was heavy security.
That is really unfair to both him and the populace. He’s innocent, and this is all political pressure.
Kem Sokha has one month to file an appeal against his arrest and conviction.
The court also revoked his voting privileges and prohibited him from running for public office.
“Running down any hope”
The Cambodian Supreme Court disbanded the CNRP, previously seen to be the only real challenger to the governing Cambodian People’s Party, two months after Kem Sokha’s detention in 2017. (CPP).
This made it possible for the CPP and Hun Sen to win each of the 125 parliamentary seats in 2018, establishing a one-party system in the nation.
Last year, a number of opposition individuals were found guilty of treason, some of them in absentia. This was the latest crackdown on opponents before elections.
Hun Sen ordered the closure of one of the few local independent media sites in the nation last month after objecting to a news item about his son.
According to Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Kem Sohka’s prosecution served as an example of the “terrifying dilemma of the state control of the court”.
The exploitation of the legal system to harass Hun Sen’s opponents “knows no bounds,” according to Amnesty International.
According to Amnesty International’s deputy regional director Ming Yu Huh, the Cambodian legal system has once again shown its shocking lack of independence.
The punishment, according to writer and “Hun Sen’s Cambodia” author Sebastian Strangio, was “geared toward assuring the CPP the projected win at the impending election” and was intended to put pressure on opponents.
According to him, this sends a “extremely strong message” that anybody who really challenges the CPP will be put in their place.
