As the trial of opposition figure Kem Sokha continues, both prosecution and defense have repeatedly offered videos of his public life to argue competing narratives of his political message.

That theme continued Wednesday during a four-hour hearing, the latest in the once-a-week schedule laid out for the long-delayed trial of the former president of the CNRP. Sokha stands accused of colluding with foreigners to overthrow the government of the ruling CPP through mass mobilization of the public after the controversial 2013 election.

So far, the prosecution has built its case on videos of Sokha speaking at various events. On Wednesday, the defense provided six videos of its own, each between one to five minutes long, to bolster its case that Sokha has only argued for electoral change.

In a clip recorded August 28, 2017,  just five days before Sokha was arrested, he appealed to Cambodian citizens to register to vote in 2018, stating that positive change through elections will bring Cambodia a genuine peace.

“My real intention to change through the election in 2018, and I didn’t engage with color revolution,” Sokha said during Wednesday’s hearing. “The real intention [was to] prepare to vote in 2018.”

Sokha also replied to a clip that the prosecutor had shown of him at a demonstration in Kampong Cham province related to garment workers’ minimum wages. The prosecutor had accused Sokha of leading the event, causing traffic congestion and impacting the economy. The prosecution has not yet said why it has brought up the event to support the charge of treason.

“I do not lead the demonstration, but I attended with colleagues as lawmakers to listen to the concerns of citizens,” Sokha said, denying the gathering posed any public safety issue.

Sokha was arrested September 3, 2017, and charged with conspiring with a foreign power. The state has accused him of working with the US to attempt a so-called color revolution to overthrow the government of the ruling CPP.

Sokha has maintained that he has only acted legitimately and transparently to try to win an election.

The CNRP was dissolved in 2017 by the Supreme Court, with scores of party members arrested on what are widely believed to be politically motivated charges. Its top leaders went into exile and more than 100 members were barred from political participation for five years.

Meng Sopheary, one of Sokha’s defense lawyers, told the court Wednesday that each clip showed her client had acted only in his role as a politician.

“If a client has a purpose to topple the government, he doesn’t need to appeal to people to vote, so the accusation is wrong,” she said. “The competition of politics is through election, not to overthrow the government,”

​​Deputy prosecutor Plang Sophal asked Sokha’s lawyer to show evidence related to Pol Ham, a former deputy president of the CNRP, at a demonstration. Despite his leadership position within the CNRP, Ham was granted “political rehabilitation” in 2021 through royal decree and has since joined the Cambodian Reform Party.

Sopheary replied that it was the obligation of the prosecution to provide proof of its claims.

Sophal also took a shot at Sokha himself as he argued the prosecution had already submitted evidence arguing the former opposition leader had led the workers’ demonstration in Kampong Cham province.

“Did Kem Sokha pretend to listen to what I have submitted [as evidence]?” he said, prompting Sokha to raise his hand and interject that the prosecutor had insulted him.

Sophal denied insulting Sokha, saying his comment was linked to the evidence. He added that Sokha, by directly speaking out or questioning prosecutors, has had more privileges than other defendants are allowed.

Chak Sopheap, the executive director of the Cambodia Center for Human Rights, monitored the hearing and said the trial could be extended even longer because the acceptance of all evidence has not yet been completed.

 Sopheap said Sokha and other former CNRP members should not face charges for their political activism and connection to the dissolved party.

“To continue prolonged accusations is a violation of political rights and freedoms,” she said.

The trial will continue February 9.