A Cambodian court on Friday (March 3) sentenced opposition leader Kem Sokha to 27 years in prison in a treason case that rights groups say is politically motivated.
“Kem Sokha (…) is sentenced to 27 years in prison for collusion with foreigners in Cambodia and elsewhere
,” Judge Koy Sao told the Phnom Penh court.
An opposition figure and co-founder of the now dissolved National Salvation Party of Cambodia (PSNC), Kem Sokha has always contested the charges.
After the verdict, he was immediately taken from the courtroom to his home, where he will be placed under house arrest and where he will be prohibited from meeting anyone except his family members.
The court also stripped him of the right to vote and barred him from running for political office.
Kem Sokha, 69, was arrested in September 2017, accused of trying to overthrow Hun Sen's government, which has been in power since 1985. Critics say Hun Sen - Asia's longest-serving leader - rolled back freedoms democracy and used the courts to stifle opponents, imprisoning many activists and human rights defenders.
