A week before the scheduled start of a “plotting” trial against a group of young environmentalists, the court has switched judges and postponed the case as the defendants didn’t want the same jurist that previously convicted them of incitement, according to their lawyer.
UPDATED — Former Cambodia National Rescue Party vice president Mu Sochua and 35 others were convicted by a Phnom Penh court this morning for plotting in a case linked to the exiled opposition leader’s attempted return to the country in 2021.
Defense lawyers called on the court to acquit their clients during closing arguments Thursday, saying there was not enough evidence for the plotting charges against the former CNRP members who allegedly supported the failed return plan of exiled party leader Mu Sochua.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court will this week try 37 CNRP leaders, former lawmakers, party activists and supporters for alleged plotting against the state, marking the fifth mass trial the court has initiated against members of the dissolved political opposition.
More than 30 former CNRP leaders and activists face another trial for plotting charges related to the failed return attempt of party vice president Mu Sochua in 2020.
The Appeal Court retried a case involving a Cambodian translator convicted of incitement for assisting on a 2018 Russia Today documentary on sex trafficking in the country. A Cambodian dissident who has political asylum in Denmark was sentenced in absentia to eight years and 18 months for plotting and incitement, respectively.
The Supreme Court ruled against the appeal of Tbong Khmum CNRP ex-commune councilor Kong Sam An for his plotting conviction in relation to taking part in gatherings to support exiled opposition leaders.
Defendants in an opposition mass trial argued at their final hearing that they were victims of a political war between Prime Minister Hun Sen and exiled politician Sam Rainsy, and asked for justice.
One of two CNRP mass trials will have a verdict on March 17, with the prosecution alleging senior opposition leaders and members were directly responsible for partial revocations of international trade privileges.
An Appeal Court hearing for three jailed Mother Nature activists on Tuesday had heated exchanges between the defendants and prosecution, as the environmentalists defended their activism.
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