Phnom Penh (VNA) – A court of Cambodia’s Phnom Penh city hasrejected a request from lawyers of Kem Sokha, leader of the dissolvedopposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), for his treason charges to bedropped.
A decision issued byJudge Ky Rithy on January 4 said that it was compulsory to gather evidence andquestion all relevant witnesses before the probe could be concluded, as KemSokha’s alleged illegal collusion with foreigners lasted from 1993-2017.
Kem Sokha, 64, wasarrested on September 3, 2017, and detained from September 6 the same year forthe charge of “colluding with foreigners” under Article 443 of the country'sCriminal Code.
More than two monthsafter his arrest, the CNRP was dissolved by the Supreme Court and 118 seniorparty members banned from joining politics for five years.
On March 5, 2018, thePhnom Penh Municipal Court ordered an additional six months of detention forKem Sokha.
On September 10, hewas released from Trapeng Phlong prison in Tbong Khmum province and returned tohis home in Phnom Penh.
He could face up to 30years in prison if found guilty.-VNA
VNA