Ex-CNRP members in two provinces were jailed or summoned to trial over old charges of incitement and plotting, with authorities relitigating cases related to party founder Sam Rainsy’s failed promise to return to the country last year and other campaigns promoted by party leaders living in exile abroad.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday ordered the deployment of the country’s armed forces ahead of exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s promised return on November 9.
A former CNRP commune chief in Kampong Cham province was apprehended on Thursday, according to his wife, at least the fourth arrest of an ex-opposition party member this week.
Two years since his arrest, opposition leader Kem Sokha’s ongoing detention has kept him out of sight and out of mind, with supporters saying he has not been forgotten, but that they feel powerless to help him.
Almost 40 former opposition members were questioned by police in three provinces across the country over the past few days, while the number of officials summoned to court in Battambang rose to 35.
More than 20 activists and officials linked to the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in Battambang province have now been summoned for questioning by prosecutors, causing concerns about judicial intimidation.
Rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the death of a Kompong Cham inmate who died just three days after his arrest and whose body was returned to his family covered in bruises and with an apparent broken neck.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng would not be “stupid” enough to plan a coup d’ètat, Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the opening of a stretch of railway on Monday.
Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy has told the world to ignore the arrest warrants for “plotting to commit treason” and “incitement” issued for himself and seven other officials from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
Former opposition lawmaker Real Camerin has applied to create a new party after walking away from the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party.
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