Saturday, 6 March 2021, 6:10 pm
GENEVA (5 March 2021) – UN human rights experts today
deplored the disproportionate prison terms handed to exiled
senior leaders of the disbanded Cambodian National Rescue
Party (CNRP) and called on the Government to protect
freedoms of association and expression to ensure democratic
processes and political activities.
The experts said
the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s verdict could potentially
deprive their right to engage in public affairs. Since June
2019, more than 150 people associated with the CNRP have
been arrested detained, and subjected to judicial
proceedings.
On 1 March, the court convicted nine
senior leaders of the former CNRP in absentia on charges