On Monday, lawyers for Cambodia’s ruling party filed a lawsuit accusing a leading rights activist of defamation and seeking $500,000 in damages, the latest development in the country’s rolling political crackdown. The complaint was filed in Phnom Penh Municipal Court against Soeng Senkaruna, the deputy head of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), … Read more
Human rights groups have condemned the Thai government’s arrest of three Cambodian political activists ahead of of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s first visit to the country later this week. On Friday, Radio Free Asia reported the arrest of Kung Raiya, a government critic who has spent two spells in prison over the past decade, opposition … Read more
A Cambodian government critic who was beaten up by assailants last year has been arrested on charges of incitement and defamation after posting a social media comment that made fun of the Ministry of Commerce. Ny Nak, who sells fertilizer and fruit trees from the capital Phnom Penh, was arrested on Friday after Minister of … Read more
A recent report by Amnesty International, detailing the forced evictions of up to 10,000 families at the Angkor temples in Cambodia, shows that the country’s post-Khmer Rouge tradition of land grabs at the expense of the poor is alive and well. According to the report, which was published last month, Cambodian authorities in the second … Read more
Hun Manet’s first 100 days as prime minister show that Cambodia’s leadership has no vision for the future and that an effective transfer of power has yet to take place. The new prime minister took over from his father Hun Sen on August 22. His lack of credibility was immediately clear when he addressed the United Nations … Read more
Advertisement A leading Cambodian opposition politician has been sentenced to another three years in prison after being convicted on two charges of incitement, the latest sign that the political climate will remain chilly under the new-look government headed by Prime Minister Hun Manet. In a trial hearing, Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Thach Setha, a … Read more
Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng, center, dressed as Lady Liberty, talks to the media outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Heng Sinith Advertisement Theary Seng, a Khmer-American lawyer currently serving a six-year prison term for treason, has been transferred from a remote prison in northern Cambodia … Read more
Advertisement On July 24, the U.S. Department of State announced that it would withhold $18 million in aid earmarked for the Royal Government of Cambodia. This move came in response to profound democratic repression throughout the run-up to the national elections held a day earlier. Yet, over the weekend, following newly installed Prime Minister Hun … Read more
Advertisement Cambodia’s Hun Sen, the world’s longest serving prime minister, this week handed over power to his eldest son, having vanquished all opposition during his 38 years in power. His legacy goes beyond the country’s own borders, though it is in Cambodia that we can best understand how he has managed to subvert and defeat … Read more
Advertisement An oversight board at Facebook’s parent company Meta has recommended that the social media platform suspend accounts belonging to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, over a livestreamed speech in which he threatened his opponents with violence. The speech in question took place at a road construction ceremony in January, when the 70-year-old Cambodian leader … Read more