Another ex-CNRP official, this time from Kandal province, was summoned to an incitement trial this week at the provincial court, but the hearing was delayed as his lawyer was tied up with the ongoing mass trials in Phnom Penh.
Defense lawyers for nine senior opposition leaders gave conflicting closing statements on Tuesday, with a Bar Association-appointed lawyer requesting a minimum sentence — due to defendants’ age and inability to carry out their plans — as if they had pleaded guilty.
The abduction of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit by “four unidentified armed persons” in Phnom Penh in June, and five other cases of Thai opposition activists disappearing since 2016, “point to a pattern of disappearances,” U.N. experts said in a letter released on Tuesday.
CNRP president Kem Sokha can get his wish for a speedy trial if he goes back to jail, as the courts are prioritizing cases for those detained in the country’s overcrowded prisons, Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin said on Friday.
Defense Minister Tea Banh had already received his Covid-19 vaccine jab ahead of the planned rollout of 600,000 doses of Sinopharm shots next week when Prime Minister Hun Sen backed out Friday evening, saying he was advised he was too old.
Tapped private phone conversations were debated in court on Thursday as evidence of former opposition party members organizing a plan to topple the government, in the latest hearing in a series of ongoing trials against the outlawed CNRP.
The ministry overseeing salaries and promotions for the country’s more than 200,000 public servants is growing and needs more space, its spokesperson said, as the government granted 40,000 square meters of Boeng Tamok lake to build a new headquarters.
The ministries of defense and finance have formed a committee to identify soldiers who have gone too long without promotions, with military spokespersons explaining that they will be looking for ways to boost salaries and make sure ranks match up with responsibilities.
Prosecutors on Friday showed statements, recorded speeches and social media posts from senior opposition leaders — including comments made during a meeting in Lowell, Massachusetts in 2019 — as evidence that nine defendants charged with attacking the government had planned a coup.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court judges on Thursday grilled opposition defendants in ongoing mass trials over the meaning of their social media posts, including how they defined the words “liberate,” “dictator,” “struggle” and “democracy.”
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