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2w ago

King Pardons Kem Sokha and Ends His House Arrest

Lifting his confinement, the royal decree preserves an appeals-court five-year ban on leaving Cambodia and points to a limited, not full, restoration of his rights.

Former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha leaves his house for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for the hearing of the verdict in his treason case where he was was sentenced to 27 years in detention under house arrest after being found guilty, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Cindy Liu
FILE - Former President of Cambodia National Rescue Party, Kem Sokha, greets from his car in front of his house in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, file)
United Nations rights experts said in 2023 that Kem Sokha's trial appeared to have been "artificially prolonged".
Cambodia's acting head of state, former prime minister Hun Sen, said he had pardoned oppsition leader Kem Sokha from a sentence of almost three decades for treason

Overview

  • The royal pardon released Kem Sokha from the 27-year treason sentence and ended his house arrest, with the decree published on Monday.
  • The decree applied only to the original sentence and kept an appeals-court order that bans him from leaving Cambodia for five years after his sentence ends.
  • Hun Sen, acting as head of state while the king is abroad for medical treatment, posted the decree and Hun Manet signed it on behalf of the king.
  • Rights groups and U.S. and U.N. experts say Sokha’s prosecution was politically motivated and note that many opposition figures remain exiled or legally barred from politics.
  • The move could ease personal hardship for Sokha but is unlikely to reopen meaningful opposition politics in Cambodia unless broader restrictions on parties, travel and political rights are removed.