After two days of hearings on opposition chief Kem Sokha’s attraction of his treason conviction, his lawyer mentioned on Thursday {that a} Phnom Penh court docket would concern a verdict at a later date, with out specifying when.
The Phnom Penh Attraction Court docket resumed Sokha’s attraction on Wednesday, greater than 18 months after the final listening to.
The 72-year-old founding father of the now-dissolved Cambodia Nationwide Rescue Social gathering (CNRP), was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years below home arrest in Phnom Penh. He was convicted of treason over allegations he colluded with america to topple the federal government of long-time former Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose son Hun Manet now holds the place. Sokha has denied the costs since his arrest in 2017.
A decrease court docket additionally stripped him of his political rights and barred him from assembly foreigners or anybody exterior his household. United Nations specialists mentioned the case is politically motivated and displays a broader sample of authorized motion in opposition to opposition figures.
Throughout Thursday’s session, Sokha’s co-defense attorneys referred to as on the court docket to overturn the conviction, arguing there was inadequate proof and that no overseas nation had been recognized as having colluded with him.
“Now we have not seen Kem Sokha usher in any foreigners to cede even one sq. meter of land to overseas invasion. It’s not true,” protection lawyer Pheng Heng instructed reporters exterior the court docket.
He mentioned prosecutors relied on video of a speech Sokha gave in Australia in 2013 to a Cambodian diaspora group to allege he conspired with america. Heng mentioned the video was “inadequate proof to help the accusation.”
The court docket has handled the actions cited within the case as makes an attempt to foment unrest aimed toward overthrowing the federal government however didn’t level to any act of aggression in opposition to Cambodia, Heng added, citing final yr’s border tensions with Thailand for instance of hostilities.
