Cambodian anti-government figure challenges prison sentence

n n

An outspoken Cambodian opposition politician asked the country’s highest court on Monday to overturn his four-year jail term for incitement to cause social unrest.

n

Nation Power Party adviser Rong Chhun was convicted of the offence last year, sentenced to prison and banned from voting and holding office.

n

Cambodian authorities frequently use the charge against activists.

n

The case was brought against him in 2024 after he met victims of land disputes and commented on Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to the border area with Vietnam.

n

An appeals court upheld his conviction earlier this year, and the Supreme Court heard his further appeal on Monday.

n

About 200 supporters rallied outside the building.

n

“We hope that the court will render justice to me and will give me freedom so that I can continue my political life in the future,” Rong Chhun told the crowd after the hearing.

n

The court will issue its ruling on Friday, he added.

n

He was “not worried” about going to prison if he lost the appeal, he said, adding that as “an opposition party, we always meet obstacles”.

n

Rong Chhun was previously sentenced to two years in jail in August 2021, but was released three months later by an appeals court.

n

Rights groups have long accused Cambodia’s government of using legal cases as a tactic to silence opposition voices and legitimate political dissent.

n

Opposition leader Kem Sokha, who had been sentenced to 27 years for treason, was pardoned last month, but his political rights, including holding office and voting, remain revoked.

n

AFP

n n