US raises alarm over Cambodia opposition crackdown

[geovalin]

Washington (AFP) - The United States expressed alarm about the political crisis in Cambodia on Friday and urged the authorities to drop charges against opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

A Cambodian court issued an arrest warrant against Rainsy over an unserved defamation sentence Friday, in what many saw as a power play by Prime Minister Hun Sen's supporters.

This came after Hun Sen threatened Rainsy with legal action for urging the international community to pressure him to exit the office he has held for more than three decades.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the deteriorating political climate in Cambodia "includes assaults against two opposition lawmakers and now the arrest warrant against opposition leader Sam Rainsy."

"The timing of these charges gives the appearance of undue political influence in the judicial process.

"More broadly the pattern of actions against the opposition suggest a return to the harsh political practices and tactics that the Cambodian people have made make clear they no longer want," he told reporters in Washington.

Rainsy was sentenced for defamation in a 2011 case, while he was living outside Cambodia, for accusing the country's foreign minister of being a former Khmer Rouge member.

It was one of a string of convictions against the opposition leader, the main challenge to Hun Sen's powerful grip over the country.

Rainsy insists the convictions were politically motivated and he returned to Cambodia ahead of 2013 elections only after receiving a royal pardon.

source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/30094346/us-raises-alarm-over-cambodia-opposition-crackdown/

[godden]

What the U.S says aint worth diddly squat these days, thanks to the muslim in the white house.

[Searat7]

Time for another dictator to go. If change can come to Myanmar it can certainly happen in Cambodia too.

[elgordo38]

Time for another dictator to go. If change can come to Myanmar it can certainly happen in Cambodia too.

Lets hope they stick in Myanmar. Its still to early to count your chickens. The military there like all over Asia do not have a good track record. If you look at Asia as a whole things seem to be taking 1 step forward and 3 back.