Cambodian opposition leader convicted in absentia

via CAAI

Associated Press
2010-09-24

Cambodia's main opposition party leader was convicted in absentia yesterday and sentenced to 10 years in prison for a politically sensitive comment about a border dispute, in what critics said was another example of the government's intimidation of its opponents.

Sam Rainsy, who is living in exile in Paris, was convicted of spreading false information about a border dispute with Vietnam. The lawsuit was filed in February after Sam Rainsy questioned whether the border had been incorrectly marked by the government to Cambodia's disadvantage.

The conviction is the second this year for Sam Rainsy, who heads the sole opposition party in parliament and is a fierce, longtime critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In January, a court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison for a political protest in which border markers were uprooted along the frontier with Vietnam.

He led the protest last year to dramatize his claim that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory, an issue he often raises to garner public support.

Hun Sen was installed after a Vietnamese invasion ousted the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.

He is sympathetic to Hanoi, while part of Sam Rainsy's support comes from appealing to traditional anti-Vietnamese sentiment among Cambodians who don't trust their much larger neighbor.