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.
Seeking a “quick and fair” trial, a lawyer for opposition leader Kem Sokha said the ongoing suspension of his client’s court proceedings could impact his rights.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has issued a reminder to Kem Sokha, president of the outlawed opposition CNRP, after authorities accused him of violating his bail terms by visiting supporters.
The Appeal Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to accept new evidence from the prosecution in Kem Sokha’s stalled treason trial, although a lawyer for the opposition leader on Thursday expressed doubt that the evidence would incriminate him.
The Appeal Court will hear arguments next week from Kem Sokha’s lawyers, who are opposing a decision by lower court judges to accept new evidence submitted by the prosecution in the opposition leader’s stalled treason trial.
The U.S. ambassador to Cambodia on Thursday raised concerns that prosecutors are introducing “fabricated conspiracy theories” about the U.S. into the ongoing trial of opposition leader Kem Sokha.
A Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge and prosecutor probed Kem Sokha on Wednesday about his political collaboration with CNRP co-founder Sam Rainsy, in light of what the court officials called Rainsy’s “violent stance.”
Judges on Wednesday accepted additional evidence submitted by prosecutors in the trial of Kem Sokha, against the wishes of defense lawyers who earlier had questioned why new evidence was needed two and half years after the opposition leader was arrested.
Lawyers for Kem Sokha and the government on Thursday debated whether new evidence introduced by prosecutors should be permissible, with the defense arguing that if additional evidence was still needed, there was not enough to find Sokha guilty.
Opposition leader Kem Sokha was again questioned in court on Wednesday about whether foreigners, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, mediated the merger of Sokha and Sam Rainsy’s past political parties to create the now-banned CNRP.
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