Three former opposition CNRP youth members have defected to the ruling party, including a woman who previously presented the nightly news on party co-founder Sam Rainsy’s Facebook page and, according to Rainsy, had received refugee status after fleeing to Thailand to escape incitement and plotting charges.
In the two countries long marked by U.S. involvement in their media sectors, Chinese training programs, partnerships and media ownership in recent years have added a new dimension to the under-pressure media environments.
The lawyers and family investigating Wanchalearm Satsaksit disappearance in June released a copy of the exiled Thai dissident’s Cambodian passport as investigations in both countries stagnate.
The Interior Ministry has authorized the establishment of a new opposition party founded by a former lawmaker of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party — as long as the new Cambodia Reform Party changes its motto so it’s not identical to that of the CNRP.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for “overdue” sanctions against Cambodian leaders responsible for rights violations, and for E.U. nations to suspend bilateral aid to Cambodia, adding that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling CPP “should not be considered the legitimate ruling party.”
Two ex-CNRP members have been found guilty of insulting the king and sentenced to three years in prison with two years suspended, Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin said on Wednesday.
Representatives of the U.S., E.U., U.K. and Australia this week raised concerns over the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentencing nine CNRP opposition leaders to 20 to 25 years in prison for a planned “attack” on the state.
Updated at 4:42 p.m. — The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced opposition leaders living abroad to 20 to 25 years in prison and stripped them of their right to stand in elections with only a Bar Association-assigned lawyer’s secretary present for the defense, according to a lawyer and court spokesperson.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court questioned two opposition activists over a leadership workshop in Malaysia in 2019 as well as comments made about regional protest movements by CNRP co-founder Sam Rainsy.
Two former CNRP members in their 60s pleaded guilty on Tuesday to insulting the king during a phone call to each other, with no explanation given during the trial about how the charge applies to private conversations.
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