Ex-CNRP leader arrested, charged with plot to overthrow Cambodian government

  

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

Ear Channa, a former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) activist, who plotted to overthrow the Hun Sen government in 2020, was arrested today on his arrival from Norway. 

Major Nuon Sophath, the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Police Officer, told Khmer Times yesterday that Ear Channa, one of the outspoken opponents of Mr Hun Sen, was arrested on Monday at the Aeon I Mall in Chamkar Mon district’s Tonle Basac commune. 

The accused, is a Norwegian-Cambodian citizen and a member of Cambodian Watch Council, a Norway-based non-governmental organization, he added. 

Soon after his arrest, Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Channa for plotting to overthrow the government of Cambodia. The court’s Investigating Judge Sin Sovannrath said that the accused was identified as Ear Channa, 41, and charged with ‘plotting’ under article 453 of the Criminal Code. 




“The accused Ear Channa has committed acts that amounts to causing social unrest, public disorder, besides he caused serious threat to national security of the country,” the judge said. 

“The accused has been sent to prison pending the pre-trial,” he added. If convicted, he faces a punishment of 5 to 10 years in prison.  

Maj. Sophath said that Ear Channa was arrested after he had flown from Norway to visit his parents living in Phnom Penh.

“He was arrested on Monday in accordance with the court’s arrest warrant. After his arrest, he was sent to the court’s investigating judge for questioning,” Maj. Sophath told Khmer Times yesterday.









 

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