A Cambodian court has acquitted former Victorian politician Hong Lim of incitement but 14 others have been found guilty and sentenced to between 20 months and two years after calling for a jailed trade unionist to be freed. Lim, a frequent critic of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, was charged and tried in absentia last year amid a crackdown on supporters of the banned opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which has resulted in more than 100 arrests.

 

The former Member for Clarinda in the Victorian Legislative Assembly faced up to 10 years behind bars in his native country if convicted. "I'm the only one they dropped the charges against," he told AAP from Melbourne after Tuesday's ruling. "I'm relieved but I don't know how the others, all young people, will cope. They will be released next month but they have been in jail for more than a year."

 

Lim was banned from entering Cambodia in 2016 after he criticised Hun Sen in the wake of the murder of Kem Ley, a close friend and prominent broadcaster who was shot dead in broad daylight while drinking coffee at a Phnom Penh petrol station. A charge sheet from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court detailed the sentences with four CNRP activists, also charged in absentia, sentenced to two years behind bars.

 

read more https://7news.com.au/politics/law-and-order/former-aust-mp-acquitted-in-cambodia-c-4338790

 

5 minutes ago, geovalin said:

Victorian politician Hong Lim

A fair dinkum aussie name .....   lol