The vice-president of the opposition Candlelight party, Tahu Sethe, has been found guilty and ordered back to prison to serve an 18-month sentence for irregular financial payments by the Supreme Court of Cambodia. UCA News reported this on May 31.
Setha, 70, was jailed in January 2023, six months before last year’s general election, amid a government crackdown on the opposition that has seen hundreds of opposition politicians and their supporters arrested in recent years. years and many in custody guarded.
Human rights groups say there are currently more than 60 political prisoners in Cambodian prisons, and human rights group Licadho said Seta is the most senior opposition figure of at least 20 Sailing Party members currently behind bars. .
Setha’s case arose from a complaint alleging that he issued five forged checks in 2019 to pay a debt to lender Rin Chhay. This debt was the subject of a previous civil case in which the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Seta.
Seta is a former lawmaker from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), who joined the Sailing Party in 2021 and was among 118 opposition members who were banned from political activity during the five years in which the CNRP was banned in 2017 for attempting to overthrow the government. of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Seta was also found guilty of inciting discrimination and sentenced to three years in prison in a separate case in October 2023 for a speech he gave to CNRP supporters early last year.
“The allegation was based on comments posted on social media in January about then-Prime Minister Hun Sen’s relationship with neighboring Vietnam.”ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said in a statement.
APHR also supported Seta, saying the charges against him were politically motivated and called for his immediate release along with other political prisoners, including former opposition leader Kem Sokha and Khmer-American lawyer Theary Seng.
Shortly after the arrest, Hun Sen stated that Sethi’s case “was purely police and not politically motivated” and that any statement to the contrary by the Vela Party would lead to legal action unless an apology was offered.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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