The campaign by a group of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) demanding the release of environmental and human rights activists is illegal and  more of a political agenda than a defense of freedoms, says the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry  spokesman Chin Malin told Khmer Times yesterday that he sees this campaign and demand as the norm for a small number of NGOs in Cambodia.

 

He said that as long as the government and the courts take legal action against any activists who violate the law, civil society groups will always demand their release without a clear study of the facts and the law, which is not a way to demand justice on the streets. Malin said that according to the law, all these NGOs should  seeking evidence to acquit the activists.

 

He said the proper way would be to participate in the legal process of the Cambodian court, not to create such a campaign, which is a form of pressure on the court. “This is not the case in other democratic societies. It is an act that does not uphold the rule of law and human rights, as well as respect for the law,” Malin said.

 

read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50916332/govt-says-ngo-campaign-illegal/

This is almost hilarious. In open societies that are democracies, freedom of speech has a central priority. Since, as even the most badly trained lawyer knows, laws in democracies come from the elected officials, it is expected that activists will advocate to change laws that they feel are decriminatory or wrong. No amount of going to court will change a law unless one has the extraordinary luck to have one's case included in the docket for the supreme court of the country - and one lives long enough, as that can take decades, if it occurs at all.

Put simply, Hun Sen is such a corrupt bar steward opposition will not be allowed.