Sam Serey sentenced in absentia over contentious Facebook post



Buth Reaksmey Kongkea                                                                

 An asylee in Denmark, dissident Sam Serey has been sentenced in absentia to nine years and six months in jail in addition to his previous 20 years in jail for plotting and inciting the people to overthrow the government.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which pronounced the verdict on Wednesday, also ordered 48-year-old Serey to pay $750 in fine, and issued a warrant for his arrest. 



Serey, the former president of Khmer National Liberation Front, armed terrorist group, was charged on two counts with “plotting and incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” under Articles 453, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. 

Presiding Judge Khun Sonan said on 1 & 2 October, 2019, Serey posted on his Facebook that “he will gather activists and soldiers to liberate the country on November 9, 2019”; the day opposition leader Sam Rainsy who was living in exile was planning to return to Cambodia. 

Serey also wrote that he would gather activists from across the border and recruit soldiers to liberate Cambodia and make it democratic, the judge added.

 



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