On January 17, I made my second attempt to return to my country, Cambodia, where I have been summoned to stand trial on treason charges. Like the first time I tried to travel back home in 2019, this time, too, the Cambodian authorities refused to issue me a visa.
I am one of more than 100 members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who stand accused of incitement to commit a felony and conspiring to commit treason. The government, which initiated the lawsuit against us, refused to revalidate the passports of nine of us so we can return and defend ourselves in court.
I left my country in 2017, after our president, Kem Sokha, was detained and I was informed that my arrest too was imminent; others followed suit. Our documents were cancelled last year and we have not been able to obtain a visa to return home on the foreign passports we have.
