Cambodia opposition chief convicted in 'mistress' case

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH (AA) - The deputy leader of Cambodia's opposition was convicted in absentia of soliciting a prostitute on Friday -- a decision immediately condemned by Human Rights Watch as a “political farce”.

The daughter of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) deputy leader Kem Sokha tweeted that he had been convicted based on “unofficial but reliable” information.

Rights group Licadho Canada a said that at 2.15 p.m. (0515GMT) the court had announced the verdict, sentencing Sokha to five months in prison and levying him with a $195 fine.

The origins of Friday’s trial were rooted in a series of recordings of telephone calls between Sokha and a woman named Khom Chandaraty, his alleged mistress, in February.

In those calls, Sokha spoke about buying properties for the woman, prompting officials at the Anti-Corruption Unit to open an investigation into his assets.

Chandaraty was later accused of being a prostitute and Sokha was charged with solicitation. He has been holed up at party headquarters for months to avoid arrest.

On Friday morning, a few hundred people gathered to hear Sokha deliver a defiant speech as the trial got underway a few kilometers (miles) away at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Video footage shot outside the court showed a scuffle between supporters and police. A witness at the scene said one person had been arrested.

Before Sokha took to the stage, CNRP Chief Whip Son Chhay read from a party white paper obtained by Anadolu Agency on Friday, which argues that the case is legally groundless.

It claims the court has violated Sokha’s rights as he still has parliamentary immunity, and that the judicial system is a “political tool of the ruling party”.

Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy Asia director, said in an email to Anadolu Agency after the verdict that the case was “all part of [Prime Minister] Hun Sen’s scorched earth plan to destroy the opposition and run roughshod over the rights of those who criticize his government”.

Four human rights workers and an election official who assisted the alleged mistress have been imprisoned ahead of trial for allegedly bribing her.