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Opposition leader Kem Sokha lost his latest appeal against a treason conviction on Thursday, with the Phnom Penh Court of Appeal upholding the verdict and imposing additional travel restrictions in a long-running case criticised by civil society as a sign of democratic backsliding.
The 72-year-old founder of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years under house arrest in Phnom Penh.
He was convicted of treason over allegations he conspired with the United States to topple the government of long-time former Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose son Hun Manet now holds the position. Sokha has denied the charges since his arrest in 2017.
A lower court also stripped him of his political rights and barred him from meeting foreigners or anyone outside his family. United Nations experts said the case is politically motivated and reflects a broader pattern of legal action against opposition figures.
Thursday’s ruling also bars Sokha from travelling abroad for five years, following a prosecution request to increase the severity of the sentence, and leaves him with a final avenue of appeal at the Supreme Court.
Sokha’s lawyer Pheng Heng said that he is unsure if an appeal with the highest court will be made after the verdict. He called the decision regrettable.
Pa Chanroeun, president of the Cambodian Institute for Democracy, said the verdict reflected the country’s political climate, which he described as marked by limited freedom of expression and a shrinking democratic space.
Several embassies released statements on Thursday, including Australia, which called the decision “deeply disappointing,” and the European Union delegation, which expressed concern and called for political pluralism in Cambodia.
The United States, whose representatives have attended court proceedings, has not issued a statement on Sokha since his conviction in 2023. The U.S. ambassador at the time said the case, “based on a fabricated conspiracy, is a miscarriage of justice.”
