PHNOM PENH, May 25 — Cambodia’s king has pardoned former opposition leader Kem Sokha ‌for a treason conviction, just weeks after he lost an appeal to overturn that verdict, according to a royal decree released today. Kem Sokha, 72, co-founder of the defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party, has been held under house arrest since he was found guilty of treason in March 2023. He was accused of conspiring with a foreign power to topple then-premier Hun Sen.

Last month a court in Phnom Penh upheld his 27-year sentence and banned him from leaving the country for five years once that term ‌ends. The royal decree said the pardon only ⁠applied to the original sentence.

A ⁠lawyer for Kem Sokha did not ⁠immediately answer phone calls seeking ⁠comment on ⁠the pardon. Kem Sokha’s case was among the most prominent in a sweeping crackdown on opponents of the Cambodian ⁠People’s Party, which has ruled Cambodia for more than four decades.

The United States said at the time that his conviction was based on “fabricated conspiracy theories”.

He was among only a few remaining opposition figures in the Southeast Asian ⁠country, after many others fled in the wake of a 2017 Supreme Court ruling that banned the CNRP. Cambodia’s ⁠government, now headed by Hun Manet, the US.- and British-educated ⁠son ⁠of the still influential former premier Hun Sen, denies targeting opponents and says those convicted were law-breakers.

Hun Manet signed the decree ‌on behalf of King Norodom Sihamoni, who is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. — Reuters