The most famous opposition figure in Cambodia has been given a 27-year house jail term for treason.
Also prohibited from running for office or casting a ballot in elections is Kem Sokha, the former head of the now-disbanded Cambodian National Rescue Party.
He was charged with planning to topple Prime Minister Hun Sen’s administration alongside foreign governments.
One of the world’s most enduring autocrats, Hun Sen has been in charge since 1985.
In July, there will be general elections in Cambodia. Although some think he intends to cede control to his eldest son, Hun Manet, the majority of people anticipate that he will run again. Based on a 2013 video in which Kem Sokha, then 69, claimed to have received backing from American pro-democracy organizations, he was initially detained in 2017.
His defense team and he have refuted the allegations, claiming there is no legal basis for the charges.
The US ambassador to Cambodia, W Patrick Murphy, stated on Friday that the case was a miscarriage of justice.
According to Reuters, Kem Sokha’s attorney, Ang Udom, announced that his team would file an appeal against the decision.
The accusations against him have been criticized by human rights organizations and Western nations as being unsubstantiated and politically motivated.
Former human rights defender Kem Sokha was the leader of the Cambodian National Rescue Party. Its support soared during previous elections to the point where Hun Sen and his party were in danger of losing.
A ban on his party was imposed before the 2018 election. The majority of its leaders have either faced legal action or been sent into exile.
Hun Sen closed down Voice of Democracy, one of the remaining independent media channels in the nation, last month, claiming that it had published an article attacking his son and harming the government’s reputation.
