On January 16, the vice president of Cambodia’s opposition Candlelight Party, Thach Setha, in an alleged check bouncing case.
The Candlelight Party blasted the case, claiming Thach Setha’s arrest is intimidation aimed at discouraging “the Cambodian people from engaging in political activities with the Candlelight Party.”
The Bangkok-based Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) expressed concern over the arrest.
“The detention of the opposition leader ahead of the elections in July has again raised serious questions about the Cambodian government’s commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law,” in a statement.
Sok Eysan, spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen, responded:
“Those who said that this arrest was politically motivated were not aware of the facts of the deeds committed by Thach Setha, because he issued these bounced checks. Anyone who breaks the law has no political affiliations in the eyes of the court, which [j]ust takes action against them procedurally and according to law.”
That is false. In fact, the Hun Sen government has repeatedly used Cambodia’s judicial system against opposition political figures. In the upcoming election, Hun Sen’s son, Hun Manet, is widely expected to take over control from his father.
Despite Sok Eysan’s claims to judicial impartiality, Cambodia among the world’s worst countries when it comes to the rule of law.
“Cambodian authorities eroded what remains of democratic freedoms in the country by harassing, threatening, and prosecuting opposition politicians and activists, notably local leaders and members of the opposition Candlelight Party on spurious criminal changes,” for the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on January 12.
General elections are scheduled for July 23. Hun Sen, who has ruled for 37 years, has ramped up his rhetoric against his political opponents in the Candlelight Party, which has emerged as the chief opposition force.
Observers say Hun Manet, who leads the Cambodian army, to succeed his father. Pro-government media in Cambodia agree, with the CPP-aligned Khmer Times running a hagiographic three-part series on
In August 2022, Hun Sen warned “ if the CPP does not rule.”
In October, Hun Sen threatened to dissolve any political party associated with Sam Rainsy, the co-founder of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
Thach Setha was formerly a CNRP lawmaker. In 2017 local elections, the CNRP garnered 44 percent of the vote, despite conditions that Human Rights Watch “hostile to free speech and genuine political participation.”
CNRP leader Kem Sokha was subsequently arrested on treason charges, and in November 2017, the Supreme Court of Cambodia ruled to dissolve the CNRP.
Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, the CNRP was “disbanded unjustly by judicial order … leading to political and other distortions undermining the call for a pluralistic democracy.”
The CNRP’s dissolution effectively left Cambodia a one-party state. Hun Sen’s CPP won all 125 seats in the National Assembly in the 2018 general election, which international observers said was neither free nor fair.
The dissolution of the CNRP corresponded with mass trials of CNRP members.
On December 22, 2022, 36 CNRP leaders and activists were convicted on conspiracy charges for allegedly attempting to help other exiled CNRP members to return to Cambodia.
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, a Phnom Penn-based human rights organization, the conclusion of that case was “the fourth verdict in five mass trials that have been initiated against a total of 158 leaders and supporters of the former CNRP since November 2020.”
The Candlelight Party, formed in 1995, was inactive from 2012 and only returned to the political scene in October 2021.
In the wake of his October threat, Hun Sen has ramped up his rhetoric. Earlier this month, he said those who criticize the CCP face a choice between the courts and violence.
"Either you face legal action in court, or I rally CPP people for a demonstration and beat you guys up,” on January 9.
Thach Setha is not the only Candlelight Party member facing legal troubles amid Hun Sen’s campaign of intimidation.
Days after his violence-threatening speech, that Candlelight Party adviser Kong Korm hand his house over to the government within a month, reigniting a property dispute that began in the 1980s.
A former deputy foreign minister and diplomat, Kong Korm is also the father of senior Candlelight Party official Kong Monika.