CNRP President Sam Rainsy on Sunday visited 17 people sent to Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison over the past few months over charges the opposition leader says are political in nature.
In a wave of arrests starting around October, the government has sent monks, housing rights activists, CNRP officials and other opposition party members to the prison over acts ranging from placing a bed on a busy road to allegedly raising an “insurrection” against the CPP government.
Mr. Rainsy, who claims that the arrests were manufactured to push the opposition to be more pliable in reform talks, told reporters outside the prison that he hoped CNRP official Meach Sovannara would still be released once talks are completely finished.
“We have made many interventions…but they have not been released, yet I believe the general atmosphere is increasingly fruitful, therefore there will be a solution for this case in the coming period,” Mr. Rainsy said, pledging to also secure the release of the other imprisoned activists.
“All this is political, and I will try to make a good and easy atmosphere to get the release of the…prisoners.”
