Kem Sokha, leader of the outlawed main opposition party, will stand trial for alleged treason in January — 28 months after his arrest — the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said on Monday, amid heightened pressure on Cambodia from the E.U. and U.S.
A lawyer for opposition leader Kem Sokha on Wednesday said no foreigner had been questioned during the more than two-year court investigation into allegations that Sokha conspired with a foreign power against the government.
The treason case against opposition leader Kem Sokha is headed to trial, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court announced on Monday, a decision his lawyer said was regrettable.
Several commentators were incredulous that Prime Minister Hun Sen would go so far as to restore the outlawed CNRP to appease the EU, Cambodia’s biggest export partner.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the treason case against opposition leader Kem Sokha would not be dropped and would continue in line with court procedures.
UPDATED 6:10 p.m. — A Phnom Penh judge has closed the investigation into opposition leader Kem Sokha’s treason case more than two years after his arrest, with the court still left to decide whether and when to send the case to trial.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan rejected the notion that Cambodia would alter its approach to politics under the pressure of possible trade sanctions, as diplomatic meetings continued on Wednesday at the newly released opposition leader’s Phnom Penh home.
A day after having his court restrictions relaxed, opposition leader Kem Sokha on Monday met with the French and U.S. ambassadors at his home, though he refrained from speaking to journalists because he was unclear whether it would violate his ban on participating in politics.
Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has been released from de facto house arrest following a 2017 arrest on widely criticized treason charges, but remains under court supervision, according to a court statement published by government-aligned Fresh News Sunday.
The daughter of detained opposition party president Kem Sokha, who is also a spokesperson for his outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party, called exiled party leader Sam Rainsy’s promise to return to Cambodia next month a mere “PR stunt.”
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