Cambodia’s beleaguered pro-democracy forces face another day of reckoning Friday, as the country’s most prominent opposition politician not in exile is scheduled to hear the verdict in his trial for treason.
Kem Sokha was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested in September 2017 based on an old video that showed him speaking at a seminar about receiving advice from U.S. pro-democracy groups. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government said it was proof of collusion with a foreign power to illegally take power.
Kem Sokha’s trial started in January 2020 but was soon suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak and resumed only last year. The 69-year-old could be imprisoned for up to 30 years if found guilty.
