The opposition Candlelight Party’s deputy head in Takeo province has been arrested for plotting in relation to an exiled opposition leader’s attempt to return to Cambodia, a charge a defense lawyer described as politically motivated.
Dissident Kung Raiya said he preferred to focus on business and family instead of speaking out and facing risk, a compromise faced by many opposition members after the CNRP’s dissolution.
Updated at 4:42 p.m. — The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced opposition leaders living abroad to 20 to 25 years in prison and stripped them of their right to stand in elections with only a Bar Association-assigned lawyer’s secretary present for the defense, according to a lawyer and court spokesperson.
Police arrested another ex-CNRP activist on Sunday, accusing party vice president Mu Sochua’s former assistant of collecting money from abroad to fund a local movement to overthrow the government.
Three more senior leaders of the outlawed opposition CNRP have asked the government’s permission to participate in politics again, leaving exiled CNRP deputy president Mu Sochua wondering why.
An online petition launched on Tuesday by the outlawed main opposition party calling for investigations into extrajudicial killings in Cambodia, and foreign visa sanctions and the freezing of assets of Prime Minister Hun Sen and others has gained more than 400 signers, with goals of half a million signatories.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday warned that those stirring up social unrest by calling for borrowers not to repay their debts, apparently alluding to opposition CNRP figure Sam Rainsy and his supporters, would be arrested — the same day a CNRP member was jailed.
CNRP acting president Sam Rainsy, who had pledged to return to Cambodia today with aims of putting the nation on a democratic path, will arrive in an undisclosed Asian country this afternoon, opposition vice president Mu Sochua said.
UPDATED 8:02 p.m. — CNRP vice-president Mu Sochua confirmed on Thursday evening that she has been released from detention at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
CNRP vice president Mu Sochua has been detained at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after arriving there on Wednesday night from Jakarta, rights groups said.
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