BFF-09 Cambodia opposition leader released from jail

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ZCZC

BFF-09

POLITICS-CAMBODIA

Cambodia opposition leader released from jail

PHNOM PENH, Sept 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Cambodia’s opposition leader Kem
Sokha was released from jail early Monday a year after he was detained on
treason charges, as the country’s strongman ruler loosens his grip on
opponents after sweeping one-sided elections. “Kem Sokha returned home at
3:30am,” his lawyer Chan Chen told AFP, after his release from a remote
border prison.

A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kem Sokha was
freed on bail although his lawyer could not immediately confirm the
conditions of his release.

He was arrested on September 3, 2017, and accused of treason as Cambodia’s
premier Hun Sen deepened his pre-election crackdown on political rivals.

Until his release, he was in pre trial detention, facing up to 30 years if
convicted. It is not yet clear if the charges have been dropped.

The case against Kem Sokha, 65, was widely seen as politically motivated
and just two months later his opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party
(CNRP) — the only serious rival to Hun Sen – was dissolved by a court.

That left the ruling party to win all 125 parliamentary seats in July’s
election, turning the country into a one-party state and extending Hun Sen’s
33-year stay in office.

The CNRP made major gains during a 2013 election, propelled by significant
disatisfaction among Cambodia’s large youth population, in a surprise showing
that rattled Hun Sen.

But the party was then decimated by Hun Sen’s crackdown last year, with
many of its leading figures fleeing abroad. Kem Sokha’s predecessor Sam
Rainsy lives in self-exile in Paris to escape a slew of charges that he says
are politically motivated.

– Closer to China –

Western countries — who have long been major aid donors to Cambodia —
criticised the most recent election, refusing to send monitors once the
opposition was effectively neutered.

The US government has said the election was neither free nor fair and it
“failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people”.

Last week, as he was sworn in for another term, Hun Sen insisted that the
poll was “free, just, fair and transparent”.

Since the polls Hun Sen has begun to release critics from jail, a common
relaxation of his grip on power that has followed election wins throughout
his time in office.

Fourteen Cambodia opposition supporters jailed for insurrection were
released last month. Faced with criticism over his rights record, Hun Sen
has increasingly moved Cambodia closer to China in recent years with Beijing
becoming both a top donor and international investor.

Compared to western nations, Beijing’s largesse comes with far fewer
strings attached in terms of pushing political freedoms and reform.

A former Khmer Rouge commander, Hun Sen has been seen by some as a
stabilising force that helped bring roads and mega-malls to a country ravaged
by decades of brutal civil war.

But critics say his long rule has been authoritarian and done little to
halt rampant corruption while enriching a small clique of families,
politicians and business figures who are close to the leader.

BSS/AFP/MSY/0902 hrs