Cambodia: opposition leader Kem Sokha released from prison

The leader of Cambodia’s main opposition partyhas been released on bail, one year after he was jailed on politically motivated treason charges.

The sudden arrest last September of Kem Sokha from the Cambodia National Rescue Party marked the beginning of a brutal crackdown by the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen. Shortly after Kem Sokha’s arrest the CNRP was dissolved by the courts and hundreds of its members forced to flee the country.

A government spokesman said on Monday: “He was released on bail and he is under monitoring by the court.”

Kem Sokha has spent the last 12 months in pre-trial detention in a remote border prison, with his health steadily declining. His daughter, Kem Monovithya, said on Monday her 65-year-old father, who has diabetes, had now been placed under house arrest and was in poor health and needed medical attention. “He has high blood sugar and he needs a long overdue surgery on his left shoulder,” she said.

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