Human rights defenders and international agencies have broadly condemned a Cambodian court’s decision to sentence 10 environmental activists to six and eight years in prison for “plotting” against the state and/or lèse-majesté (defaming the king) earlier this month.
The case concerned Mother Nature Cambodia, an award-winning environmental group that successfully stopped Chinese-led construction of a hydroelectric dam in 2015 and managed to secure a ban on exporting coastal sand in 2016.
Dozens of rights groups in Cambodia and abroad maintain authorities charged the activists to stifle their environmental work.
