Cambodian radio owner jailed for 20 years

A 71-year-old Cambodian radio station owner, Mam Sonando, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for being involved in a secessionist plot.

Human rights groups believe the charge and the verdict were politically motivated because Sonando is a prominent critic of Cambodia's government. Amnesty International have named him as a prisoner of conscience.

Sonando was also fined 10m riel (£1,930) after being convicted of insurrection and inciting people to take up arms against the state in a plot to establish an autonomous region in the province of Kratie. He is to appeal.

Rights groups have called the accusations baseless and said the government was seeking to justify its crackdown on a land dispute in Kratie in May, when a teenage girl was shot dead by security forces during clashes with demonstrators.

The European Union also expressed "serious concern" over the verdict, which it said "raises severe doubts about the impartiality and independence of the court".

Sonando is the owner of the Beehive station that regularly broadcasts programmes critical of the government led by prime minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985.

Source: AFP