The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bail request from opposition senator Hong Sok Hour, saying that releasing the 60-year-old from jail “could cause chaos to society.”
The senator has been in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison since being arrested in August on direct orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took umbrage with a video Mr. Sok Hour helped produce that made false claims about the Vietnamese border.
The senator was charged with committing fraud and incitement over the video.
He has been seeking bail on health grounds, saying he suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes, and insisting he is not a flight risk.
But in Friday’s decision, which was read out by Presiding Judge Khim Pon, the Supreme Court rejected this reasoning and said it would not release him.
“The Supreme Court thinks this action could cause chaos to society,” the judge said. Mr. Sok Hour’s lawyer, Choung Choungy, called the decision unfair.
“I regret that the Supreme Court did not give justice to him.”
