Cambodian dissident is sent to jail for 20 years

A CAMBODIAN court sentenced a dissident radio station owner to 20 years in prison on insurrection charges that critics claim are part of a political vendetta by the government.

Judge Chaing Sinat of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday said 71-year-old Mam Sonando was convicted and sentenced on four counts related to an alleged secessionist movement in eastern Cambodia. He was charged with instigating an alleged insurrection in Kratie province in May this year and
inciting armed rebellion.

Mam Sonando’s Beehive Radio is one of the country’s few radio stations broadcasting criticism of prime minister Hun Sen’s government.

Din Sophanara, the wife of Mam Sonando, said the verdict will be appealed. She said her husband was not involved in the alleged rebellion and had done nothing wrong.

“There is no real democracy in Cambodia. There is no justice,” she said.

The human rights group Amnesty International called the conviction “shocking and baseless” and said it “reflects the deteriorating situation of freedom of expression in Cambodia”.

Three other people said to have been part of a political movement with Mam Sonando and accused of being major instigators of the insurrection were also sentenced in absentia. One received a 30-year prison term and the others 15 years each.

Armed security personnel kept the road in front of the court closed as supporters of Mam Sonando demonstrated nearby.

The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights condemned the verdict.

“Today’s events represent a gross travesty of justice – an outrageous violation of Mam Sonando’s right to freedom of expression and fair trial rights,” it said in a prepared statement.