The leader of Cambodia’s opposition party has been sentenced to two years in prison and banned from running for office after being found guilty of inciting social unrest, in the latest legal case for targeting government critics.
Sun Chanthy, chairman of the Power Nation party, was found guilty of the crime at a court in Phnom Penh. He also faces a fine of 4m riel (£800) and will be stripped of his right to vote or face an election.
Defense lawyer Choung Choungy said the ruling was “an injustice” to his client, and he was considering whether to appeal.
The case against Solem Chanthy was centered on his social media posts including a meeting with supporters in Japan, in which he criticized the Cambodian government.
According to reports published in the pro-government media, at the time of his arrest in May, Sun Chanthy had said that the government’s politics had left people to the banks, and criticized the government’s system for distributing social welfare.
Choung Choungy told AFP that the punishment handed down was very severe and that Sun Chanthy’s comments were not a mistake “but a critical structural development”.
The Cambodian government has often used its courts to silence political opponents and their activities, and to shut down or shut down independent media.
Sol Chanthy was previously a senior figure in the former opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, until it was disbanded by the courts before elections in 2018. He later joined its honorary successor, the Candle Party, despite being banned from competing. election yearone square vote from the long-time authoritarian leader, Hun Sen. Late last year, Sun helped Chanthy form a new opposition party, the National Power Party.
Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades; He used the power of his son shortly after the election Hun Manet.
Authorities have denied that the case against Sun Chanthy was politically motivated.
Rong Chhun, a National Power party councilor, is also facing charges of incitement and could be jailed for up to six years if convicted.
Similar charges have been used this year against union leaders, environmental activists and Mech Dara, a Cambodian journalist known for exposing corruption and human trafficking; whose arrest in September it sparked a global outcry.