Cambodia's former opposition leader receives royal pardon for 27-year sentence

Cambodia's ​former opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was serving a 27-year sentence for treason, has been pardoned, the country's former prime minister said. Hun Sen, ​who is currently Cambodia's acting head of state, signed a decree pardoning his political rival on behalf of King Norodom Sihamoni.Sokha, the former leader of the now-dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was first arrested in 2017 over a video where he said he had received support from US pro-democracy groups. He has been held under house arrest since he was found guilty of treason in 2023. The charges have been widely derided as politically motivated by human rights groups.Hun Sen posted on Facebook that Sokha had been "pardoned", alongside a photo of the royal decree signed by him.His son, Hun Manet, who took over as prime minister from his father in 2023, said the pardon was "one more step towards strengthening national unity".It came after an appeal against Sokha's sentence was rejected last month. But it did not include overturning a ban on the politician leaving Cambodia for five years.Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: "Hun Sen's decision to pardon Kem Sokha after more than eight years in arbitrary detention partially reverses a grievous injustice, but it is deplorable that Sokha remains barred from participating in politics or leaving the country.