Updated Jan. 30, 2023, 06:35 a.m. ET.
The Phnom Penh Appeals Court began hearing former Cambodian opposition party leader Kem Sokha’s bid to overturn his 27-year sentence for treason on Tuesday.
The hearing, which ended at noon local time, was the first of nine. The court will reconvene on Feb. 8.
International human rights groups called on Cambodian authorities to release the 70-year-old immediately.
Sam Rainsy, the exiled acting leader of Sokha’s Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), also called for the verdict to be quashed.
“There’s no way forward for #Cambodia until Kem Sokha is freed and allowed his political rights,” he wrote on X.
Security was tight at the courthouse, with checkpoints outside and reporters barred from the building.
Kem Sokha was arrested in September, 2017, and charged with colluding with a foreign power.
After his arrest, he spent a year in a prison near the border with Vietnam.
He was transferred to house arrest in Phnom Penh in October 2018. More than a year later, the court eased some of the restrictions, allowing him to travel inside the country but banning him from participating in politics.
Sokha’s trial was delayed for more than a year due to restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. When he was finally sentenced in March 2023, he was placed under house arrest, barred from politics and banned from meeting with non-family members without the court’s permission.
His lawyer, Ang Odom, told RFA Khmer Tuesday the sentence was unjust and called for the restrictions on house visits to be eased.
“Today’s decision by the Phnom Penh Appeals Court to refuse to lift visitation restrictions on Kem Sokha’s lawyers shows again that in all aspects, the court’s handling of this case on baseless treason charges has never been free or fair,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson.
“No country that truly respects international human rights standards would ever require a prosecutor’s office to approve a defendant’s access to his legal counsel.
“The prosecution of Kem Sokha and other opposition members on these ridiculous, politically motivated charges exposes the complete lack of independence of the Cambodian judiciary.
“This also reveals how Cambodia’s new prime minister has done nothing to address the lack of rule of law and fundamental freedoms in the country.”
Ahead of the appeal, Amnesty International demanded his release, saying the treason conviction showed the Cambodian authorities’ disregard for human rights and the rule of law.
“Anyone who dares to speak out against the government is at risk,” said Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer.
“Cambodian authorities must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of everyone in the country, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and end the increasing restriction of civic space.”
Kem Sokha has always denied the charges, which led to his arrest a few months after his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) made large gains in local commune elections.
The charges against him relate partly to a video recorded in 2013 in which he discussed a strategy to win power with the help of U.S. experts. The United States Embassy has rejected any suggestion that Washington was trying to interfere in Cambodian politics.
Shortly after his 2017 arrest, Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved and outlawed the CNRP, paving the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to take all 125 National Assembly seats in the 2018 general election.
Then-Prime Minister Hun Sen used similar tactics in last July’s election, barring the main opposition Candlelight Party from fielding candidates, allowing his party to win 120 National Assembly seats.
A month before the 2023 election, Hun Sen refused to pardon Kem Sokha, saying he made the decision because foreigners were trying to interfere in Cambodia.
Hun Sen stepped down following his party’s election victory, his son Hun Manet becoming prime minister last August.
Earlier this month, Kem Sokha’s daughter Monovithya lashed out at Western nations such as France for meeting Cambodia’s new leader in the hope of improving relations, calling it “lazy and ineffective.”
“Cambodia’s aid and trade partners should publicly condemn the injustices against Kem Sokha, and make it clear to Prime Minister Hun Manet that there will be no business as usual until Kem Sokha is freed,” Human Rights Watch’s Robertson said Tuesday.
Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Updated to note end of first hearing and comments by Sokha’s lawyer and Human Rights Watch.
