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A30 world news
Diaranson 15 Juni 2022

Cambodian court convicts lawyer, dozens of others of treason

ical opposition members are Theary Seng, hold her hand sentia so they could face jus-
really about preventing any and body, and push her into tice.
electoral challenge to Prime a waiting police truck shortly Theary Seng was jailed at
Minister Hun Sen’s rule, but after the verdict came. Prey Sar prison on the out-
they have also come to sym- She was dressed as Lady Lib- skirts of Phnom Penh, Gen.
bolize the death of Cambo- erty, in a light green gown Nut Savana, a spokesperson
dia’s democracy,” Phil Rob- and a crown with “Freedom” for the interior ministry’s
ertson, deputy Asia director written on it. She carried an prison department, said in
of New York-based Human imitation torch, which she an interview with the on-
Rights Watch, said in a state- raised and shouted “Free the line Swift News service. He
ment. “By creating a political political prisoners.” She has said she had a medical check
dynamic that relies on intim- worn thematic costumes to on arrival and was put in an
idation and persecution of her court sessions to publi- isolation area for 21 days as a
government critics, Hun Sen cize her belief that Cambo- standard precaution against
demonstrates his total disre- dia is not a democratic nation the spread of COVID-19.
gard for democratic rights.” and the trial is unfair. U.S. Ambassador to Cambo-
PHNOM PENH, Cambo- most of the other defendants The Phnom Penh Municipal She told reporters she was dia W. Patrick Murphy said
dia (AP) — A Cambodian- were charged over a failed Court found Theary Seng ready for a “sham” guilty ver- on Twitter that the sentenc-
American lawyer and doz- attempt by the leader of the and most of the others guilty dict. ing of Theary Seng and the
ens of members of a now- defunct Cambodia National of conspiracy to commit trea- “I am ready and prepared to others was deeply troubling.
dissolved opposition party Rescue Party to return from son, defense lawyer Choung go to the notorious Cambo- “Freedom of expression and
were convicted of treason exile in 2019. Cambodian au- Chou Ngy said. Theary Seng dian prison for my political association, and tolerance
Tuesday in a trial that is thorities blocked Sam Rain- was sentenced to six years in opinions, for my beliefs, for of dissenting views, are vital
part of efforts to tame op- sy’s return and alleged that jail, and the others received my belief in democracy, for components of democracy,”
position to the long-run- the 60 defendants were in- sentences of five to eight my belief in freedom,” she he wrote. “We call on Cam-
ning rule of Prime Minis- volved in organizing his trip, years. said. “I am ready to pay the bodian authorities to release
ter Hun Sen. which Theary Seng and the Many of the 60 defendants price of prison in order that her and other human rights
others have denied. earlier fled into exile or went I live out my conscience and activists from unjust impris-
Lawyer Theary Seng and Cambodian courts are widely into hiding, and it wasn’t im- my belief in freedom and jus- onment.”
believed to be under the in- mediately clear how many tice.” The disbanding of the Cam-
fluence of Hun Sen, whose appeared in court for the Choung Chou Ngy, who bodia National Rescue Party,
authoritarian rule has kept verdict Tuesday. According represents Theary Seng but its removal from the ballot,
him in power for 37 years. to Human Rights Watch, 27 not the other defendants, and a government crackdown
The Cambodia National defendants who are in exile said he plans to file an appeal. on media and independence
Rescue Party was his party’s were tried in absentia. He said the defendants who voices paved the way for Hun
biggest rival before it was dis- Theary Seng stood out- received five-year terms had Sen’s party to sweep the 2018
banded by a court ruling just side the court as the verdict their sentences suspended, elections and claim every seat
ahead of national elections in was announced, saying she but those with sentences of in the National Assembly. He
2018 that resulted in a clean wanted her arrest to be pub- six to eight years were or- has repeatedly stated his in-
sweep by Hun Sen’s Cambo- lic and “not in the shadow.” dered jailed, and the judge tention to stay in office until
dia People’s Party. Journalists saw at least three ordered police to find those 2028 and has endorsed one of
“The mass trials against polit- police officers approach who were sentenced in ab- his sons to succeed him.

Satellite images suggest Iran preparing for rocket launch

DUBAI, United Arab said that Iran likely would The successive failures raised evidence offered, however, to April 2020 revealed its own
Emirates (AP) — Iran ap- have seven homemade satel- suspicion of outside inter- show foul play in any of the secret space program by suc-
peared to be readying for lites ready for launch by the ference in Iran’s program, failures, and space launches cessfully launching a satel-
a space launch Tuesday as end of the Persian calendar something Trump himself remain challenging even for lite into orbit. The Guard
satellite images showed year in March 2023. hinted at by tweeting at the the world’s most successful launched another satellite
a rocket on a rural desert Over the past decade, Iran time that the U.S. “was not programs. this March at another site in
launch pad, just as ten- has sent several short-lived involved in the catastrophic Meanwhile, Iran’s paramili- Semnan province, just east of
sions remain high over satellites into orbit and in accident.” There’s been no tary Revolutionary Guard in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Tehran’s nuclear program. 2013 launched a monkey
into space. The program has
The images from Max- seen recent troubles, how-
ar Technologies showed a ever. There have been five
launch pad at Imam Kho- failed launches in a row for
meini Spaceport in Iran’s the Simorgh program, a type
rural Semnan province, the of satellite-carrying rocket. A
site of frequent recent failed fire at the Imam Khomeini
attempts to put a satellite into Spaceport in February 2019
orbit. also killed three researchers,
One set of images showed a authorities said at the time.
rocket on a transporter, pre- The launch pad used in Tues-
paring to be lifted and put on day’s preparations remains
a launch tower. A later image scarred from an explosion in
showed the rocket apparently August 2019 that even drew
on the tower. the attention of then-Presi-
Iran did not acknowledge a dent Donald Trump. He later
forthcoming launch at the tweeted what appeared to be
space port and its mission to a classified surveillance image
the United Nations in New of the launch failure. Satellite
York did not immediately re- images from February sug-
spond to a request for com- gested another failed launch
ment. However, its state-run earlier this year, though Iran
IRNA news agency in May did not acknowledge it.