Former Cambodian Opposition Leader Kem Sokha Granted Royal Pardon |
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Former Cambodian Opposition Leader Kem Sokha Granted Royal Pardon
The move comes as the country’s government faces growing scrutiny for its role in handling an explosion of online scam centers and organized crime.
Detained opposition leader Kem Sokha takes part in a supervised visit to a Buddhist pagoda in Takeo province, Cambodia, Sep. 22, 2022.
Kem Sokha, the former leader of the Cambodian opposition, was yesterday granted a royal pardon, effacing a 27-year prison sentence for treason, a month after an appeals court upheld his conviction.
Sokha, 72, the co-founder of the now defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), had been under house arrest since he was convicted of treason in March 2023, after a long spell in pretrial detention.
The royal decree, signed by Senate President Hun Sen on behalf of King Norodom Sihamoni, who is currently in China for medical treatment, comes after years of criticism of Sokha’s treatment by the United Nations, Western governments, and human rights groups.
As Cambodianess reported, the decree removes the remainder of Sokha’s prison sentence but does not overturn the Appeal Court ruling, handed down on April 30, that upheld his conviction. It also keeps in place a ban on him taking part in politics or leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.
“We have already known that Kem Sokha’s case is a political one, and only a political solution can resolve it,” said Meng Sopheary, Sokha’s lawyer, as per Camboja News. “He has not received full freedom because he still does not have the right to engage in politics, vote, and travel abroad.”
In a post on Facebook, Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet, who took over the prime ministership in 2023, described the pardon as “one more step towards strengthening national unity.”
Sokha was arrested by members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard unit late on the evening of September 3, 2017. He was later charged with “conspiracy with a foreign power” under Article 443 of Cambodia’s criminal code. The main piece of evidence presented by government lawyers was a video of a 2013 speech Sokha gave in Australia, in which he discussed the support he received from Western democracy-promotion advocates.
At the time of his arrest, Sokha was the acting president of the CNRP, which had performed well at national elections in 2013 and local polls earlier in 2017, eating into the majority of Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and raising hopes of a genuine political opening.
However, the arrest marked a decisive escalation of the CPP’s campaign against its opponents. It was followed in short order by........