A Cambodian court on Friday sentenced opposition leader Kem Soh to 27 years in prison for treason in a case that human rights groups say is politically motivated.
And the Phnom Penh court announced that “Kim Soha has been sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of colluding with foreigners in Cambodia and elsewhere.”
Immediately after the sentencing, the 69-year-old was placed under house arrest, where he will be prohibited from seeing anyone who is not a member of his family.
Lawyer Kem Sohi Ang Odom told reporters that he has a month to appeal the conviction and prison sentence.
Kim So-ha was arrested in 2017 and accused of developing a “secret plan” of conspiring with foreign organizations to overthrow the government at the time, while So-ha repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
Critics say Hun Sen stopped democratic freedoms, used the courts to crack down on dissidents, and imprisoned dozens of opposition activists and human rights activists.
And AFP quoted human rights organizations as saying that “Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has halted democratic freedoms and created a climate of fear in the country.”
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the National Congress for Democracy and Justice two months after Kem Sohi’s arrest, paving 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.
Source: AFP.
