A mass trial against former CNRP members and supporters for allegedly supporting the return of party leader Mu Sochua will head to closing arguments in December.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court is trying 37 defendants — one of whom is on bail — linked to the disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party for supporting the unsuccessful attempt by Mu Sochua to return to the country to face trial in 2021. They are facing plotting charges, which carry five to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Judge Ouk Rethkunthea decided at the end of Thursday’s hearing that there would be no more witness cross-questioning and that the court would move to closing arguments.
“Now it is finished. We have nothing more to add,” she said.
Earlier in the hearing, the judge played out six audio and video clips: an interview on Radio Free Asia with Sochua and former CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanrith, a video of Sochua speaking and four phone taps allegedly between defendant Khan Bunpheng and two other people.
Although the judge ordered the court staff to play the clips, there was almost no discussion of the clips’ content or context.
Rethkunthea said that Bunpheng was speaking to two people called Heng Sokleng, who is another defendant on bail in the trial, and Leh Slemat, who is seemingly not connected to the proceedings. It was hard to hear what was being said in one of the clips, and Bunpheng spoke very little in all four. At one point, the person speaking to Bunpheng discussed coming to Phnom Penh to greet Sochua, but it was not clear whether the speaker was Sokleng or Slemat.
Lor Chunthy, Bunpheng’s defense lawyer, said the conversation mostly included other people’s voices, not his client’s.
“The conversation should have both sides where they answer each other,” Chunthy said.
Bunpheng then questioned the voice on one of the clips. “This voice seems to not be Sokleng’s voice … I ask the judges to consider this and verify it again.”
Kong Mas and Voeung Samnang, the only other defendants in court, said they had nothing to add, and the hearing was closed. The trial will resume on December 8.
This story was updated on November 25, 2022, to correct the number of defendants in the case. There are 37 defendants not 38.
