Kem Sokha was head of an opposition group that is seen as as a genuine electoral threat to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 36 years and wants to hang in until 2028.
A treason trial against Cambodia's opposition leader has resumed, two years after it was adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.After Kem Sokha was arrested, his party was dissolved, with the government accusing it of plotting a coup
Mr Kem was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested in September 2017 on the basis of an old video showing him telling a seminar about receiving advice from US pro-democracy groups.The charge was seen as part of a political strategy by Prime Minister Hun Sen to sweep away all opposition before the 2018 general election, which his party won unanimously, despite accusations the polls were neither free nor fair.
Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, said in an emailed statement: "The resumption of Mr Kem's trial in Phnom Penh after an almost two-year hiatus doesn't alter the fact that these bogus, politically motivated charges should have never been brought against him in the first place."
As Mr Kem left his home for the court in the capital, Phnom Penh, on Wednesday, he told reporters he hoped the court would drop the charges for the sake of national reconciliation.
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