Cambodia is down to five active cases of Covid-19 with no reported deaths, but even as the disease fades from public consciousness, members of the banned opposition CNRP who posted about coronavirus on Facebook remain in jail.
A former opposition commune councilor in Pursat province was arrested on Tuesday over an old warrant related to the clearing of forests, police said.
A 15-year-old boy who illegally entered the outlawed CNRP’s former headquarters over the weekend was released by authorities on Tuesday morning after questioning.
Lawyers for former CNRP president Kem Sokha have applied to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to resume his trial, more than six months after it was suspended out of concerns for Covid-19.
Tbong Khmum police brought in three residents for questioning on Saturday over a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan: “Thank you for peace, but respect Article 2 of the Constitution.”
Human rights groups on Wednesday criticized the Tbong Khmum court’s decision to bar rights monitors, reporters and even some family members from the sentencing of seven ex-CNRP officials the day before, while a defense lawyer did not attend the hearing.
Four defendants were in hiding while dozens of local CNRP supporters gathered for what they said was the first time since the party’s dissolution as the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court on Tuesday sentenced five ex-opposition officials to jail for plotting.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has released on bail a former CNRP public affairs officer accused of “plotting” after an investigating judge placed him under court supervision, a court spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the country to commit to protecting peace as hundreds of land disputants protested in Phnom Penh on Monday, saying that while they remain marginalized, threatened and “in tears,” the people don’t have peace.
Police arrested another ex-CNRP activist on Sunday, accusing party vice president Mu Sochua’s former assistant of collecting money from abroad to fund a local movement to overthrow the government.
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