Svay Rieng (Cambodia): A Cambodian court has
sentenced opposition chief Sam Rainsy in absentia to two years
imprisonment for uprooting border markers on the frontier with
Vietnam.
Human rights worker Chheng Sophas, who attended today's
one-day trial, said the leader of the self-titled Sam Rainsy
Party had been found guilty of destruction of public property
and inciting people to commit a criminal act. Sam Rainsy did
not attend the trial, and according to his party is in France.
Sam Rainsy led a group of villagers in pulling out the
markers as a way to dramatise his claim that Vietnam is
encroaching on Cambodian territory, an issue he often raises
to garner political support. The incident occurred in October
of last year.
Cambodia's Parliament stripped him of his immunity from
prosecution in November.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 15:37