Cambodian Opposition Leader Sentenced to 27 Years
By VOA News March 03, 2023
A Cambodian court found top opposition leader Kem Sokha guilty of treason on Friday and sentenced him to 27 years imprisonment.
The Phnom Penh court said Sokha had colluded with a foreign power to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, something Sokha has repeatedly denied.
The 69-year-old has a month to appeal his conviction and sentence. He was immediately placed under house arrest where he will not be allowed to meet with anyone other than his family members.
Sokha was a founder of the Cambodia National Rescue Party which was dissolved by the Supreme Court two months after his arrest in 2017.
W. Patrick Murphy, the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, slammed Sokha's trial and sentence, calling them a "miscarriage of justice."
Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said Sokha's trial is an example of the "frightening problem of the state control of the judiciary in the country."
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