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 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.
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.
Opposition leader Kem Sokha on Wednesday objected to the repeated questioning of his past activities, telling the court during his treason trial that he could not remember the details.
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 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.
UPDATED 11:15 p.m. — The first day of Kem Sokha’s treason trial has wrapped up, with lawyers from both sides — Sokha and the government — saying the court mostly dealt with procedural questions for future hearings. The trial is scheduled to continue in the morning on Thursday.
Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin denied that the courts were excluding journalists from opposition leader Kem Sokha’s trial on Wednesday out of principle — they just did not have enough space for them or the equipment to broadcast the proceedings.
The E.U. is asking too much — it’s pushing the government to break the country’s laws — so Cambodia will merely update the bloc about the easing of restrictions for on trial opposition leader Kem Sokha and other concessions, the governmental Human Rights Committee said this week.
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