Sokha Trial Ends Early as Defense and Prosecution Spar
Kem Sokha’s treason trial hearing on Wednesday was cut short by a judge after the prosecution and defense lawyers disputed each others’ behavior and tactics in court.
Kem Sokha’s treason trial hearing on Wednesday was cut short by a judge after the prosecution and defense lawyers disputed each others’ behavior and tactics in court.
Newly elected opposition councilors in Kampong Thom have been discriminated against and given no uniforms or places to sit, so they “just wander around” commune halls, the Candlelight Party said.
An opposition commune councilor in Battambang says she is being obstructed from doing the work she was elected to perform, with the ruling-party commune chief bringing in someone from the outside to head a committee she believes she should be running.
Defense lawyers for opposition leader Kem Sokha again accused the prosecution of relitigating evidence that had already been presented during the trial, which concluded its 50th hearing on Wednesday.
The latest trial hearing for opposition leader Kem Sokha again examined a video of a decade-old public protest, and witnessed another clash in the final moments as a defense lawyer accused the prosecution of bringing arbitrary charges against Sokha.
More than 30 opposition activists have been violently attacked in the past five years — including the killing of a man in November and this weekend’s assault — typically by unknown assailants on public streets, a lawyer said.
Opposition leader Kem Sokha’s treason trial continued at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning with a focus on Sokha’s meetings with foreign ambassadors, according to his lawyer.
Opposition Candlelight Party vice president Son Chhay returned from Australia to Cambodia on Sunday and will face lawsuits lodged over his claim of vote-stealing, including a $1-million suit brought against him by the ruling CPP.
The government announced an increase in provincial and district councilors, a move analysts said would only increase political appointees and have no impact on governance.
The ruling CPP will have the lion’s share of commune councilors, according to results announced by the NEC on Friday, though the election body said it will finalize the count on Sunday.
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