Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has expressed serious concerns over Cambodia's recent judicial decisions to uphold convictions against former opposition leader Kem Sokha and 33 other individuals, including human rights defenders and social media users. Sokha's 27-year sentence was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeals on charges including treason, espionage, and conspiracy related to a speech he gave in Australia in 2013, prior to his 2017 arrest. Separately, the Court of First Instance sentenced 33 individuals to prison terms ranging from 18 months, suspended, to two years for alleged "incitement to cause social chaos" over remarks made in 2024 about the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area project.
According to the High Commissioner, these convictions and sentences do not align with international human rights law and may intensify a chilling effect of broadly interpreted and arbitrarily enforced criminal laws on civil society, journalists, and the wider population in Cambodia. The individuals were exercising their right to freedom of expression, and their trials raise concerns about due process and fair trial standards. The UN urges Cambodian authorities to protect legitimate criticism and expression, ensure judicial independence, and uphold fair trial guarantees. It calls for the annulment of these convictions, the unconditional release of Kem Sokha and others detained arbitrarily, the cessation of similar prosecutions, and a review of Cambodia’s criminal laws to ensure alignment with international standards.