PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged seven top opposition politicians with plotting armed rebellion for planning to return from self-imposed exile to seek a change in government through mass peaceful protests.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also warned that anyone who supported the plans of the Cambodia National Rescue Party to oust the government would also be risking a long prison term.
The returning party chiefs could be sent to prison for 15 to 30 years if found guilty, and their supporters could be sentenced to five to 10 years. Even attending a rally or expressing support online could be considered plotting to topple the government, Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin was quoted as saying.
The court’s charges on Thursday are the latest salvo in a political battle that has heated up since opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced plans to return from more than three years of exile on Nov 9 to seek a “restoration of democracy".
Nov 9 is Cambodia’s independence day, celebrating when it obtained its freedom from France in 1953.
“My calls to the people and the armed forces of #Cambodia to rise up against the regime will continue until the regime has restored to the opposition its right to participate in the country’s political life including genuine elections,” Sam Rainsy said on Twitter earlier this week.
His opposition party was dissolved by the courts ahead of last year’s general election, ensuring that an increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen continued his four decades in power.
The party had been expected to mount a strong challenge in the July 2018 election, and its dissolution was widely seen as being politically motivated, with Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party fearful that it could lose power in the polls.
Hun Sen’s government seems unnerved by the planned return of opposition politicians, though the effort appears to be a quixotic one, with Sam Rainsy calling on Cambodian workers in Thailand to accompany him home in massive numbers.
Officials have vowed to arrest Sam Rainsy on his arrival, but there is speculation that Cambodia may simply bar him from entry, which could even keep him from boarding a plane to the country if airlines are officially informed of such a ban. Neighboring countries are also unlikely to allow him to enter from their territory.
However, the government has stepped up arrests of his supporters and there are reports of recent physical attacks on opposition organisers.
Sam Rainsy went into exile in late 2015 to avoid a two-year prison sentence on charges of criminal defamation. Other legal cases have since been lodged against him by the government.
Other top party members fled into exile during a late 2017 crackdown on all opposition to Hun Sen, which included the arrest of the party’s co-founder, Kem Sokha. He was charged with treason, based on his links to a US pro-democracy organis