Former Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha has received a pardon for his prison sentence under a royal decree signed by Acting Head of State Hun Sen. Additional penalties, including the loss of voting rights, the right to stand for election and the right to engage in other political activities, remain in force.
The pardon follows a court sentence of 27 years’ imprisonment for collusion with a foreign power, or conspiring with a foreign power, in Cambodia and elsewhere during the period from 2010 to September 3, 2017.
The royal decree was signed by Hun Sen on May 25 and was widely reported that evening. Although it did not set out the political restrictions in detail, an implementation record by Seng Heang, a deputy prosecutor attached to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, specified that the pardon covered only the 27-year prison term. The additional penalties remain applicable: permanent withdrawal of voting rights, the right to stand for election and the right to engage in other political activities, as well as a five-year ban on leaving Cambodia.
By: ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
