Cambodian opposition activists jailed for 20 years

PHNOM PENH // Eleven Cambodian opposition members and activists were jailed for insurrection yesterday, including three who received 20-year sentences, a defence lawyer said.

The penalties were imposed on the defendants for taking part in protests in July last year over the closure of a demonstration site in capital Phnom Penh.

Rights groups said they reflected prime minister Hun Sen’s increasing efforts to smother dissent in the kingdom he has led for more than three decades.

Those jailed were from the op- position Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). They were arrested during clashes with authorities last year that left dozens wounded on both sides.

The ruling however, caught lawyers, rights groups and CNRP supporters by surprise.

“This is a very serious sentencing. We lawyers cannot accept these convictions,” said defence counsel Sam Sokong.

Eight clients of his were each jailed for seven years.

Local rights group Licadho described the proceedings as a “show trial with a predetermined ending, apparently set up only to intimidate the CNRP”.

It said the sentencing was carried out without the presence of most of the group’s lawyers.

Mr Hun Sen has tolerated little dissent during his time in office. He has successfully played off his rivals, deftly using a combination of the courts, power and small compromises to blunt opposition.

Last week, parliament passed a controversial law with his backing to regulate non-governmental organisations, despite a boycott by opposition politicians and street protests.

Rights groups, United Nations officials and western diplomats also voiced strong concern over the legislation, which they said would expose campaigners on flashpoint issues such as land grabbing and human rights abuses.

Observers said the swiftness and severity of yesterday’s sentences could be a response to the CNRP’s boycott of last week’s vote, and signalled a deep freeze in relations between the two parties after recent improvements in ties.