Cambodian opposition leader set for treason trial verdict

By SOPHENG CHEANG and GRANT PECK
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s beleaguered pro-democracy forces face another day of reckoning, as the country’s most prominent opposition politician not in exile is scheduled to hear the verdict in his trial for treason. Kem Sokha was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested in September 2017 after Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government accused him of colluding with a foreign power to illegally take power, citing a videotape in which he spoke about receiving advice from U.S. pro-democracy groups. His arrest marked the beginning of a campaign by the government to use the courts to silence its critics. Kem Sokha’s trial started in January 2020 but was suspended due to COVID-19 and resumed only last year. He could be imprisoned for up to 30 years if found guilty.