A series of legal cases filed against prominent members of the main
opposition party have raised tensions in Cambodia, where self-styled
strong man Prime Minister Hun Sen has held power for 30 years.
Cambodia frees eight protesters, including two foreigners(Euro News)
Cambodia
released eight protesters hours after police detained them for
demonstrating against what activists described as the politically
motivated imprisonment of a group of rights workers and an election
official.
Two of the protesters were foreign men, one Swedish and one German.
They
were freed on Monday night after being questioned for supporting rights
activists who were jailed over an ongoing sex scandal investigation
involving opposition politician Kem Sokha.
"They released us after over 10-hour detention," Ee Sarom, one of those detained, told Reuters on Tuesday.
A
series of legal cases filed against prominent members of the main
opposition party have raised tensions in Cambodia, where self-styled
strong man Prime Minister Hun Sen has held power for 30 years.
Rights
groups have accused the government of using the legal system to
neutralise the opposition to give Hun Sen an advantage in the run up to
the next general election in 2018.
Sam Rainsy, the
leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), is in
exile to avoid prison on charges that were reactivated last year and for
which he had previously received a royal pardon.
Kem
Sokha, the party's acting president in Rainsy's absence, is facing
charges for defamation and procurement of prostitution after recordings
of a telephone conversation purportedly between Sokha and a woman were
leaked.
Six other people - including a United
Nations employee - allegedly paid the woman to deny she had a
relationship with Sokha, and are facing trial on bribery charges.
The UN worker has not been detained.
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