Sokha’s Hearing Resumes with Video Clip Evidence Played

 


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on January 25, 2022 continued playing a video clip involving former Cambodian National Rescued Party (CNRP) president Kem Sokha as it resumed hearing his treason trial. 

Sokha, 67, is accused of conspiracy and having secret agreement with a foreign [US] state or its agents with a view to fomenting hostilities or acts of aggression against the Kingdom of Cambodia committed in Cambodian territory and other places between 1993 and 2017. 

Presiding Judge Koy Sao said that in this case, the accused was charged with “Conspiracy with Foreign Power” under article 443 of criminal code. 

Judge Sao said that Sokha was arrested on September 3, 2017. 

He added that the arrest followed a video clip in which he allegedly confessed in 2013 in Australia that he was following orders from the US to overthrow the Cambodian government through a colour revolution. 

During the hearing, the judges’ council continued playing a portion of the clip which showed Sokha saying he was following the orders of the US. 

It also played other seven short clips of the accused saying that he had led and participated in crowded demonstrations at the freedom parks in Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham province between December 2013 and January 2014.    

Deputy Prosecutor Chhay Hong said that the seven clips showed Sokha participating in and leading mass demonstrations to overthrow the government between 2013 and 2014. 

Hong said that clips had been made during a trip made by Sokha to meet with supporters in Australia and they revealed that the plot was funded by foreigners and the accused had a secret agreement with a foreign [US] state or its agents to go against the government in 2013.

He added that the seven video clips provided strong and additional evidence against Sokha on his charge of “Conspiracy with Foreign Power”. 

“The video clip filmed by Australia’s CBN TV s saying that he was following orders from the US to overthrow the Cambodian government just like the way it was done in the former Yugoslavia,” said Hong. 

“These seven video clips have clearly shown and confirm that with financial support from the US, the accused Kem Sokha incited the people, garment workers, civil servants and the armed forces to go against and overthrow the government,” he added. 

Hong noted that one clip showed a violent demonstration.

“This was a demonstration of violence and anarchy, and not a non-violent demonstration as he (Sokha) claimed,” he added..

One of Sokha’s lawyers Ang Oudom said that his client’s case is the political motivated, so it should be solved via a political mechanism; not the court system. 

Oudom said that the seven video clips played in the court hearing were old ones. His client was addressing the protesters and criticized alleged wrongdoings in the government in his capacity as an opposition politician. 

Oudom suggested the court to drop his client’s charge and give full freedom to Sokha. 

“It not only the ordinary people, foreign diplomats or  others in the world who are saying the case politically motivated. The prosecutors themselves know it is politically motivated but they are still continuing it,” he said. 

Oudom urged the court to speed up his client’s case so that Sokha can receive his full freedom to participate in politics. 

The hearing will continue on February 2.



 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia Attends the 13th World Swimming Championship in Italy

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA The six Cambodian delegates will leave for the 13th World Swimming Championship, scheduled over nine days from the July 25 to August 2, 2009 in Rome, Italy. The delegates will depart on July 21. Their number will include two national male swimmers and a couple of female junior swimmers. They will be supported by one coach and one member of the sport’s governing body. The World Swimming Championship is organized by the International Amateur Swimming Federation (IASF), which was founded in the 1950s, according to Hem Thon, National Coach and Secretary General of the Khmer Amateur Swimming Federation (KASF). He also said that 115 countries besides Cambodia would send swimmers to Italy to take part in the competition. “This is the third year that Cambodia has sent a swimming team to the World Swimming Championships. We are looking forward to competing with the best swimmers in the world and hopefully winning a couple of medals for our country. It is also be a great...
Read more

Chan Tra: Life of a Cambodian Traditional Tattoo Artist

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Among tattooists in Cambodia, Chan Tra, 46, is the only tattoo artist to retain the ability to ink a wide range of subjects in different styles. His modern counterparts are limited in their repertoire in comparison. His subjects include the human form, birds and abstract patterns. Chan Tra is now an expert in drawing Ankor Wat on the skin of foreign clients, thus turning them into walking, talking promotional materials for Cambodia’s tourist sector. Chan Tra was born in 1963 in Sihanouk province and has two sons and one daughter. He is an orphaned and a Survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. He lost his entire family during the years of terror between 1975 and 1979. “I have loved drawing and painting ever since I was a child and practised my art every day before the arrival of the Pol Pot regime. Consequently, I like the art of tattooing and it makes a solid source of income to keep my wife and kids happy,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly during a personal i...
Read more

TV5 Selects Freshie Girls and Boys 2009

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Ten Cambodian teenagers, five girls and five boys, were selected as “Cambodian Freshie Girls and Boys” for 2009. The “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition took place on March 30 at the TV5’s station in Phnom Penh and was organized by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ Television Channel 5 (TV5). Bun Kert, Director of the “Freshie Girls and Boys Organizational Committee” of the TV5, said more than 1,000 Cambodian youth applied for the competition, but through many different phases of the competition, only 20 girls and boys who reached the final round on March 30. He said the main objective of the competition is to promote and encourage Cambodian young people to show their personal abilities and skills and knowledge in order to become a future leader, good speaker or TV hosts in Cambodia. “This is the eighth “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition organized by TV5 in Phnom Penh. The main purpose of the competition is to select the freshie girls and boys for Cambodia i...
Read more