The Cambodian People’s Party will root out all extremist political groups, the party said at a congress this weekend, as party workers again voted for Hun Sen to lead them into the upcoming national election.
Judges in the Kem Sokha treason trial questioned the opposition leader over training given to the disbanded CNRP by a Serbian group, which the government has previously accused of fomenting color revolution in eastern Europe.
The trial against opposition leader Kem Sokha tried to link him to an alleged color revolution attempt in 2013 when party colleagues and supporters held lotuses at public demonstrations, and questioned him over the Taiwanese ruling party’s visit to his CNRP that year.
Kung Raiya has gone to jail for seeking a “color revolution” and later for selling Kem Ley commemorative T-shirts. The prison stints initially deterred him from being politically active, but with three weeks to go for the June election he is running for commune chief in Kampong Cham.
CNRP leader Kem Sokha’s defense team argued in court on Tuesday that the prosecution’s repeated use of video evidence did not prove the charge of treason and was only prolonging the trial.
An Interior Ministry official said Cambodia was studying foreign interference laws, pointing to Cham invasions of ancient Cambodia, while a human rights advocate worried about “color revolution” labels.
Accusations of foreign influence made against a local casino workers’ union mirror rhetoric deployed by government officials over the last few years to justify charges of treason, foreign interference and of a purported color revolution against the political opposition, activists and civil society groups.
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