Saturday, December 31, 2005

More Cambodian opposition figures charged with "defamation"

It looks like things are headed back towards the Bad Old Days in Cambodia, as several opposition leaders have recently been charged and/or convicted of "criminal defamation" of the ruling coalition.

Our CIT coverage started last week when Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison for defaming Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh. Now, several other leaders, including Kem Sokha, leader of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, have had the same book thrown at them.

This is not good. Governments around the world should condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms.

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