U.S. to deny visas to Cambodian officials over opposition crackdown

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it would restrict entry to people involved in the Cambodian government’s actions to undermine democracy, including the dissolution of the main opposition party and imprisonment of its leader.

“We call on the Cambodian government to reverse course by reinstating the political opposition, releasing Kem Sokha, and allowing civil society and media to resume their constitutionally protected activities,” the State Department said in a statement.

 

“The secretary of state will restrict entry into the United States of those individuals involved in undermining democracy in Cambodia. In certain circumstances, family members of those individuals will also be subject to visa restrictions,” it added.

 

Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), last month, removing any significant challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sen extending his decades-long rule in a general election next year.

Kem Sokha was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government with U.S. help. Kem Sokha, who rejected the accusation, is in prison.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hun Sen accused Sam Rainsy, who stepped down as CNRP leader earlier this year in a bid to a forestall a ban on the party, of committing treason by inciting soldiers to defy orders.

Hun Sen said Rainsy, who lives in exile in France, would face new legal action over the comments.

The dissolution the CNRP has been condemned by some Western countries as the most serious blow to democracy since an international peace deal and U.N.-run elections in the early 1990s ended decades of war and genocide.

 

The United States said after the banning of the CNRP that the election “will not be legitimate, free or fair,” and withdrew an offer to help fund it. The European Union has raised the possibility of withdrawing trade preferences.

Hun Sen has dismissed Western pressure and built closer ties to China, while opposing U.S. efforts to rally Southeast Asian countries to stand up to Beijing’s expanding power in the region.

Reporting by Eric Walsh and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker

 

source https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cambodia-visas/u-s-to-deny-visas-to-cambodian-officials-over-opposition-crackdown-idUSKBN1E02LF?il=0

 

 

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