Union leader jailed 18 months for comments on Facebook

A labour union leader has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in connection with comments he made in a live broadcast on Facebook two years ago that criticised the arrest of a casino worker, an official of a local rights group said.

The cambodian labour confederation said the case was aimed at intimidating labour unions.

Morm rithy, 35, a vice-president of the confederation, was convicted by the phnom penh Municipal court on charges of incitement to commit a felony and discrediting a judicial decision, said Am Sam Ath, operations director of licadho, one of the few local groups actively monitoring cambodia’s rights situation.

The cambodian government has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents.

The government insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, but political parties seen as mounting strong challenges to the ruling cambodian people’s party have been dissolved by the courts or had their leaders jailed or harassed.

The verdict came less than a week after cambodia’s top court upheld the two-year prison sentence of a prominent female labour union leader.

cambodia, under former prime minister Hun Sen, who held power for almost four decades, was widely criticised for human rights abuses that included suppression of freedom of speech and association.

Hun Sen was succeeded by his son, Hun Manet, last year, but there have been few signs of a more liberal atmosphere.