Cambodia opposition politician jailed for two years for inciting social unrest

PHNOM PENH — A Cambodian opposition politician was sentenced on Dec 26 to two years in jail and banned from elections for inciting social unrest, his lawyer said, the latest in a series of cases that activists say are attempts to silence government critics.

Sun Chanthy, president of the Nation Power Party, was arrested and charged in May after meeting supporters in Japan. The police said he had spread false information on Facebook to mislead the public but his arrest was not politically motivated, the local media reported at the time. 

His lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, on Dec 26 told reporters Sun Chanthy was sentenced in absentia as he was unable to travel from a provincial prison to attend court in Phnom Penh due to travel sickness.

He joins a long list of politicians, journalists, and labour and environmental activists imprisoned after speaking out against the government, which has been led by the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) for four decades. 

Cambodia's justice ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the sentence. 

For years, the government has denied curtailing free speech and cracking down on its opponents, saying those jailed or subjected to legal action had broken the law.

The CPP government has led a ruthless, years-long crackdown on its opponents, with scores of politicians jailed, many in absentia, and hundreds more fleeing into exile.

Sun Chanthy formed the Nation Power Party in 2023 after Cambodia's only opposition group, the Candlelight Party, was barred from an election in 2023 that was won by the CPP in a landslide.     

According to human rights group Licadho, which tracks cases against government critics, 102 people have been arrested and jailed in Cambodia in 2024, with 76 still in detention as of Dec 10.

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