Candlelight commune chief candidates from Koh Kong and Pailin provinces have asked courts to delay proceedings into complaints filed against them, which the party has called intimidation tactics.
Prime Minister Hun Sen encouraged the use of out-of-court settlements rather than pay for lawsuits. Kem Sokha’s trial was delayed again after a prosecutor tested positive for Covid-19.
The resumption of the trial of opposition activist Seng Chan Theary kicked off to heated arguments of the court’s procedures.
Their defense lawyer, Sam Sokong, said that while the activists have completed their reduced sentences for the earlier incitement charges, they’re now being held in pretrial detention for the additional plotting charges.
Ten additional land disputants in Oddar Meanchey province have been summoned for court questioning amid a conflict on more than 1,000 hectares that was once a sugar plantation.
A repeatedly delayed incitement trial for 14 activists in Tbong Khmum province has been scheduled again for next week, with families pleading for movement in the case — but a court spokesman said further potential delays would be up to the discretion of the judge.
Tbong Khmum, the nation’s youngest province, has faced a sharp crackdown against opposition supporters in the last several months, with at least nine activists in jail. But family members of imprisoned CNRP supporters say they will not be silenced.
Five people have been sentenced to one year in prison in Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces for violating the Covid-19 Law after drinking in groups against public health protocols, amid a slew of arrests across the country for parties, illegal travel, not wearing masks and breaking curfew.
The Kampot Provincial Court on Wednesday morning ordered a reinvestigation into a building collapse case more than a year after the incident killed 36 people, including six children, and injured 23 others, mostly construction workers.
A 22-year-old musician who rapped nationalist lyrics about “the bravery to stand up” has been found guilty of incitement and jailed for 12 months, while an underage collaborator who apologized in court was handed a suspended sentence and freed.
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