BREAKING CNRP opposition activist sentenced to 20 years for 'insurrection'

[geovalin]

Meas Sokchea

ELEVEN opposition activists were handed down lengthy prison sentences on Tuesday for their roles in a protest at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park last year that turned violent and left dozens injured.

In a decision that will come as a surprise to many, Judge Lim Makaron ruled that the Cambodia National Rescue Party members were guilty of taking part in an “insurrection” by attending a demonstration led by CNRP lawmakers at the public square on July 15, 2014.

“Eleven activists were sent to jail after the lawyers boycotted the trial today," Sam Sokong, lawyer for the defence, said after the ruling.

Meach Sovannara, the head of the CNRP’s information and media department, was convicted of “leading an insurrection” and sentenced to 20 years.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-activists-sentenced-insurrection

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Cambodia opposition party members sentenced for insurrection

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Eleven members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party were sentenced Tuesday to long prison terms after a court convicted them of insurrection over a protest last year that turned violent.

The July 15, 2014, protest in Phnom Penh came as opposition lawmakers were boycotting parliament to demand political reforms, claiming the previous year's election had been rigged by Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party. An agreement reached the next month saw the opposition members agree to take their parliamentary seats.

The government deployed civilian security auxiliaries armed with batons and homemade weapons to keep the protesters out of the capital's Freedom Park. Violent clashes followed, which each side claims the other initiated.

Leading opposition spokesman Meach Sovannara and two other defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading the protest. Eight others received seven-year sentences for taking part. All had pleaded innocent.

Hun Sen has been in power for almost three decades, and while Cambodia is formally democratic, his government is authoritarian and known for intimidating opponents. The country's courts are widely seen as doing the government's political bidding.

"During the trial, which has had intermittent hearings since December 2014, not one plaintiff identified any of the 11 defendants as having committed any act of violence during the event," LICADHO, a respected local human rights group, said in a statement issued after the sentencing.

It said that only one of the nine defense lawyers was present at Tuesday's hearing, with the others reported to have boycotted the event because the court had accelerated the trial process despite poor health on the part of some of the defendants.

"When judges unexpectedly called for closing arguments, the defendants requested a delay until their lawyers could attend. The judges denied the request and deliberated for just 15 minutes before returning with the verdicts and sentences. As they began to deliberate, police and military police entered the courtroom and the road outside the courtroom was simultaneously blocked," said the group's statement.

It quoted LICADHO director Naly Pilorge saying these actions made it clear "that this was a show trial with a predetermined ending," apparently to intimidate the opposition party.

The government and the opposition disagree over a bill that would greatly restrict the activities of non-governmental organizations, a large and active sector in Cambodia. Lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party boycotted the vote on the bill in the lower house, where it passed with government support. It must still be approved by the Senate, another government-dominated body.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-22

[geovalin]

Jailings Test the ‘Culture of Dialogue’

Khmer Times/Pav Suy and Chea Takihiro

Tuesday, 21 July 2015

274 views

PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – One year after the July 22 political accord, the government-opposition “culture of dialogue” faces a real test today after a court here gave three opposition leaders 20-year jail sentences on Tuesday for “insurrection.”

Eight other opposition figures were jailed for seven years.

Shouts of “injustice” erupted from the defendants who were quickly manacled, hustled into a police van and sent to Prey Sar prison.

Over the last year, the government has played cat and mouse with the 11 defendants, all activists with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). The most prominent is Meach Sovannara, chief spokesman for the CNRP.

read more: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13553/jailings-test-the----culture-of-dialogue---/

[MockingJay]

Game over, folks! Forget democracy, freedom of speech, etc. worldwide in the future to come! The warning signs were and still are all over the horizon, but everyone's too busy to recognize them...

[DoctorG]

There is no real law, as most of us know it, anywhere in Asia.

[oneday]

Looks like someone is taking a page out of Thailand's rule book or is it visa versa?

Get rid of the opposition so you are the only game in town.

[Srikcir]

It seems we're seeing the appearance of the Iron Triangle

Thailand, Cambodia and Mynamar putting behind bars all opposition to current governments.

[geovalin]

Rainsy praises bipartisanship despite sentences

Thu, 23 July 2015

Meas Sokchea and Shaun Turton

Only days before 11 opposition activists were imprisoned on charges widely branded as politically motivated, Prime Minister Hun Sen personally warned Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy to keep his troops in line and raised the spectre of possible jail sentences.

In a text message sent four days ago, the prime minister warned his counterpart in the CNRP that the current political truce dubbed “the culture of dialogue” was at risk if he could not control his people, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed.

Although not detailing specifics, the veiled threat seemingly supports widespread accusations by human rights groups that the government has used the case to pressure the CNRP, most recently, they say, as a response to the opposition’s criticism over alleged Vietnamese encroachment and the NGO law.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national