The leader of an opposition party who was convicted of incitement in December said he won’t file an appeal, arguing in a handwritten letter from prison that Cambodia’s court system has repeatedly shown that they can’t make independent decisions.
Sun Chanthy, the president of the Nation Power Party, said that an appeal would “be a loss of time” and not worth the effort.
“I know clearly that the present court is not independent, unjust, gravely corrupted, and does anything according to the order of the government to suppress opposition activists, human rights defenders, unionists, environmental activists, land dispute victims, and independent media,” he wrote from Pursat Provincial Prison.
The two-page letter was dated January 2025, with no specific date. Radio Free Asia confirmed its authenticity with Rong Chhun, an adviser to the party and a longtime labor activist.
Sun Chanthy was arrested in May at Phnom Penh International Airport after returning from meeting Cambodian overseas workers in Japan.
Charges against him stemmed from critical comments he made on social media about the government’s policy on issuing “poverty cards” for the poor to receive free medical treatment or subsidies.
The government said he had “twisted information” to suggest that the cards would only be distributed to those who join the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP.
Sun Chanthy was sentenced by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Dec. 24 to two years in prison for inciting social disorder. He was also hit with a 4 million riel (US$1,000) fine to be paid to the plaintiff –- the government –- and was banned from participating in politics for the rest of his life.
‘Obliterate’ the opposition
The Nation Power Party and Sun Chanthy’s wife condemned the conviction and sentence as politically motivated. His lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, told reporters just after the sentence was announced that the case lacked strong evidence, adding that he would talk to Sun Chanthy about filing an appeal.
But Sun Chanthy in his letter said that the court was “gravely corrupted” and targeted him because the CPP-led government “wants to obliterate the genuine opposition voice from Cambodia.”
“I am not dispirited since I have already been prepared mentally and physically, and I knew in advance that grave dangers would happen to me since I first entered political struggles for the sake of genuine freedom, justice and democracy in Cambodia, which will not be covered by fresh roses,” he wrote.
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Choung Chou Ngy confirmed to RFA on Tuesday that an appeal won’t be filed.
Neither government spokesperson Pen Bona nor Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin could be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The Nation Power Party was formed in 2023 after the main opposition Candlelight Party was prevented from competing in that year’s general election.
Just days before Sun Chanthy’s conviction in December, the party was forced to move out of its Phnom Penh headquarters after the landlord was threatened by local authorities.
Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.