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Cambodian to appeal jail sentence for Facebook comment | Cambodian to appeal jail sentence for Facebook comment |
(35 minutes later) | |
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A Cambodian student plans to appeal an 18-month jail sentence he received for making a reference on his Facebook page to a “color revolution” in the country, his lawyer said Wednesday. | |
Kong Raiya, a student at Khemarak University in Phnom Penh, was sentenced by the Phnom Penh municipal court on Tuesday on charges of incitement to commit a felony. | |
He was arrested for posting a comment on Facebook in which he asked if anyone would “dare to make a color revolution with me?” The term refers to peaceful anti-government protests and movements in recent years, including in countries from the former Soviet bloc. | |
Defense lawyer Sam Sokong said he was preparing documents for an appeal in the Appeals Court next week. | |
“It is an unacceptable conviction and surprised all of us,” he told The Associated Press, adding that the sentence his client received is in the maximum range prescribed by law. | |
Incitement to commit a felony is punishable by a jail term ranging from six months to two years. Kong Raiya has already served eight months in prison since his arrest on Aug. 21, a month after Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the military to eradicate any group or people who want to topple his government through a “color revolution.” | |
Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy expressed regret that the student was jailed for exercising his right to freedom of expression. | |
“Kong Raiya was unjustly sentenced today to 18 months in prison only for suggesting a ‘color revolution’ meaning a democratic and peaceful change for Cambodia,” Sam Rainsy said on his Facebook page Tuesday. | |
“Kong Raiya’s prosecution is actually a message of threat and intimidation from ruling Cambodian People’s Party to the millions of Cambodian youths who share his ideas,” he added. | |
Opposition groups and activists have criticized Hun Sen, one of the longest-serving leaders in the world, for not tolerating dissent, and using government machinery to do so. | |
“The courts in Cambodia are just like that,” Kong Raiya said after his sentencing, before being taken away in a prison van. “They are unjust not only to me, but for all Cambodians.” | |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |