A Phnom Penh court has sentenced three activists to seven years in prison on charges of plotting against the government, in what rights groups describe as another attempt to silence dissent. The ruling, delivered on 2 September, targeted 25‑year‑old student leader Thy Thorn and opposition figures Soeung Kunthea and Mean Chanthon. Kunthea and Chanthon were arrested in Thailand in 2024 and deported to Cambodia despite being recognised as refugees by the UN refugee agency. The convictions are the latest in a series of lengthy sentences handed down to critics of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. Observers say the charges lack substance and reflect the government’s use of the courts to suppress opposition voices. Thorn’s arrest is linked to his role as vice‑president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, a group active on social and environmental issues. The association’s president, Koet Saray, is already serving a four‑year term for incitement, a detention the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has deemed arbitrary and in violation of international law. The three activists were among at least 94 people detained in 2024 after criticising the Cambodia–Laos–Vietnam Development Triangle Area project, an economic plan that sparked public outcry. Although Cambodia later withdrew from the scheme, many of those arrested were pressured to confess and join the ruling party in exchange for release. Those who refused now face long prison terms. Rights advocates have urged the government to quash the convictions and free all political prisoners. With Phnom Penh set to host the Francophonie Summit in November, campaigners are calling on international partners to press Cambodia to end its repression of peaceful critics. The sentences underscore the shrinking space for dissent in Cambodia, where activists, students and opposition figures continue to face prosecution for challenging government policies. -2026-09-04
