mr president mr rainsy an opposition leader has been sentenced in absentia to twelve years in prison
his trial did not comply with international standards for a fair and impartial judiciary and his conviction was politically motivated
similar convictions of members of the opposition party are fairly common and show that there is no impartial judiciary in cambodia
these court decisions hinder basic human rights including the freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial
i strongly oppose the conviction of sam rainsy and those like him who exercise their freedom of expression and call on the cambodian government to stop its current path of tyranny
at international level we must remind cambodia to strive towards democracy and not use the selective enforcement of laws against individual rights
in particular i call on the commission to remind cambodia not to use new ngo regulations to restrict the opposition and civil society
