Leading Cambodian opposition figure, Kem Sokha, has been sentenced to 27 years of house arrest after the country’s highest court found him guilty of treason.
While pronouncing the sentence on Friday, Judge Koy Sao told the court sitting in the capital, Phnom Penh, that Sokha would be barred from running for political office or voting in elections.
Sokha, who was leader of now-disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested in 2017 over accusations he was conspiring with the United States to overthrow self-styled strongman Hun Sen, who has been Cambodia’s ruler for nearly four decades.
Sokha has continued to deny the charges while the US has also dismissed the allegations as “fabricated conspiracy theories and politically motivated.”
The CNRP was banned ahead of a 2018 election that was swept by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
CNRP has since been decimated, with many of its members arrested or fleeing into exile in what activists say is a sweeping crackdown designed to thwart challenges to the CPP’s power monopoly.
Cambodia is due to hold elections in July, with the opposition launching the Candlelight Party last year, which largely has members of the banned CNRP.
Kem Sokha’s legal team has also said it would appeal the verdict.
“He’s in house arrest, all of his political and citizens’ rights are completely stripped. This is not justice,” said his lawyer, Ang Udom, adding that only politicians could resolve the case.
