Cambodian opposition figure in court on incitement charge

Rong Chhun arriving at the Phnom Penh municipal court on September 20, 2024 – Copyright AFP TANG CHHIN SOTHY

Suy SE

An outspoken Cambodian opposition politician appeared in court Friday for questioning on new charges, the latest in a series of legal cases brought by the authorities against dissenting voices.

Rong Chhun, an adviser to the Nation Power Party, which was founded last year, faces up to six years in prison if he is convicted of new charges which include “incitement to disturb social stability”. 

Rong Chhun said the allegations against him relate to his meetings with victims of land disputes, and his interview about Prime Minister Hun Manet’s recent visit to the border area with Vietnam.

A judge granted him bail but he was banned from attending political rallies and travelling overseas among other conditions, Rong Chhun told reporters after the hearing.

“I lost some freedom,” he said. 

The incitement charge is frequently used by Cambodian authorities against activists.

Several dozen supporters and party members gathered outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and cheered when they saw Rong Chhun leave the building.

“It is repression and a limitation of my freedom to participate in political activities,” Rong Chhun, a former vice president of the opposition Candlelight Party, told reporters before entering the courtroom. 

Police set up barricades around the court, preventing journalists and supporters from approaching the entrance. 

Rong Chhun was previously arrested in 2020 after accusing the government of “irregularities” in the demarcation of Cambodia’s eastern border with Vietnam.

He was sentenced to two years in jail in August 2021 but was released three months later by an appeal court, with the remaining sentence suspended for three years. 

– Nation Power Party arrests –

Sun Chanthy, the founder of the Nation Power Party, was arrested in May and placed in pre-trial detention on incitement charges after criticising the government. 

Several other members of the party have also been arrested in recent months on similar charges. 

This week, a court indefinitely postponed a closing argument hearing in the appeal trial of main opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail last year for treason and was immediately placed under house arrest.

Kem Sokha’s defence team has accused the appeal court of trying to delay the proceedings.

Rights groups have long accused Cambodia’s government of using legal cases as a tactic to silence opposition voices and legitimate political dissent. 

Another opposition leader was fined $1.5 million in July after remarking that Cambodia was “getting worse in terms of democracy” under the leadership of Hun Manet. 

Hun Manet assumed power in 2023 after his father, Hun Sen, stepped down following nearly four decades of rule. 

Despite handing over, Hun Sen — currently the president of the Senate — remains an influential figure in Cambodian politics.