kem sokha trial
Opposition leader Kem Sokha leaves the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in his vehicle on February 12, 2020. (Ouch Sony/VOD)

Kem Sokha Grilled About His Former Party’s Merger With Sam Rainsy

Opposition leader Kem Sokha was questioned in court on Wednesday about who initiated discussions to merge his former party with the Sam Rainsy Party, why the parties joined together to form the now-banned CNRP and whether foreigners were involved in its creation.

CNRP president Kem Sokha gestures to onlookers as he leaves the Phnom Penh Muncipal Court on February 6, 2020 (Ouch Sony/VOD)

Lawyers Spar, Aiming to Exclude Evidence From Kem Sokha Trial

Lawyers for the government and opposition leader Kem Sokha on Thursday sparred in court over the veracity, origins and context of various pieces of evidence, requesting that some items be corrected or excluded from the trial.

Kem Sokha leaves the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on January 30, 2020. (Ouch Sony/VOD)

Kem Sokha Accused of Underreporting Political Expenses

The reported expenses of on trial opposition leader Kem Sokha’s Human Rights Party fell below the plausible costs of the party’s activities, government lawyers claimed on Thursday, though they did not say what activities were supposedly unaccounted for.

Kem Sokha, president of the dissolved opposition CNRP, gestures from inside an SUV as he drives away from the Phnom Penh Muncipal Court on January 15, 2020. (Panha Chorpoan/VOD)

UN Says Kem Sokha Trial ‘Tainted by Irregularities’

UPDATED 9:33 a.m. — U.N. representatives issued a statement on Friday calling the trial of Kem Sokha, the leader of the outlawed opposition, “tainted by irregularities,” and criticized his arrest without a warrant, arbitrary detention and the lack of public access to trial proceedings.

Kem Sokha, wearing a red tie, arrives at the Phnom Penh Muncipal Court on January 15, 2020 (Panha Chorpoan/VOD)

Kem Sokha Defends Actions as Democratic, Not Hostile: Lawyers

Kem Sokha argued in court on Thursday that his political and NGO activities adhered to democratic and human rights principles, and therefore would not be a crime under the charge of conspiring with a foreign power, according to his lawyers.