Local media reported on Friday that Cambodian opposition activist has been sentenced to 18 months in prison over Facebook posts deemed incendiary and insulting to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Mai Hongsreang, 38, for “incitement to commit a felony’’ after he posted several messages on Facebook criticising the long-ruling prime minister, the Khmer Times reported.
According to deputy court prosecutor Keo Sokunthea, Hongsreang wrote in July, “Hun Sen is an unlucky man. Where there is Hun Sen, people suffer,’’
“Hongsreang also said Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who defected to help overthrow the genocidal regime in the 1970s and has led Cambodia for 34 years, was afraid of main opposition party leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha.’’
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by court order in 2017 in the run-up to a 2018 election in which Hun Sen’s ruling party won all 125 parliamentary seats absent a viable challenger.
Rainsy, who has lived abroad since 2015 to avoid court convictions that he calls politically motivated, has vowed to return to Cambodia next month in a bid to restore the party.
Sokha was detained two months before the CNRP was outlawed and remains under de facto house arrest.
In his Facebook posts, Hongsreang also referenced Hun Sen’s rumoured ill health, writing, “If you are sick, be true to yourself, don’t shun national duties and take photos with your grandchild happily.
“Isn’t my nation as worthy as your grandchild? You survive because you plunder the nation.’’
Hun Sen, who is in his late 60s, is known to periodically seek medical treatment abroad, although he regularly maintains that he is healthy, posting photos on his Facebook page of him playing golf, using exercise equipment and on a bicycle, as well as family photos.
In a statement, the CNRP said social media comments and posts were closely monitored, and grass-roots party leaders were being “detained and charged without any evidence.’’
Anyone expressing support for Rainsy’s promised return on November 9 would be “arrested and charged as accomplices,’’ the party said.
More than 35 CNRP supporters have been arrested and detained in 2019 on charges mostly related to expressing their support for the outlawed opposition, with dozens more summoned for questioning by police and the courts, human rights group said.
The government has branded the CNRP campaign to mobilise supporters as a plan for an illegal coup. (dpa/NAN)