Kem Sokha

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Kem Sokha
កឹម សុខា
First Vice President of the National Assembly
In office
26 August 2014 – 30 October 2015
PresidentHeng Samrin
Preceded byNguon Nhel
Succeeded byYou Hockry
Additional positions
President of the
Senate
In office
1999–2002
Personal details
Born (1953-06-27) 27 June 1953 (age 70)
Political partyCambodia National Rescue Party (2012–2017)
Human Rights Party (2007–2012)
Independent (2002–2007)
FUNCINPEC (1999–2002)
Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (1993–1999)
Khmer People's National Liberation Front (1992–1993)[1]
Spouse
Te Chanmono
(m. 1980)
Children2, including
Activist
Politician
Signature

Kem Sokha (

Member of Parliament (MP) from 2008 to 2017. From 2007 to 2012, Kem was the leader of the Human Rights Party
, which he founded.

Kem was arrested and imprisoned at a detention centre in

Tbong Khmum Province
on 3 September 2017 under allegations of treason. In November 2017, the CNRP was dissolved, and 118 of its members, including Kem, were banned from politics for five years. On 10 September 2018, more than a year after his arrest, he was released on bail, and subsequently placed under house arrest. On 10 November 2019, Kem was released from house arrest.

In March 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to 27 years of house arrest.[5]

Education

Kem Sokha has stated to Voice of America in 2018 that he pursued a law degree at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, but dropped out in his second year before receiving a scholarship to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) in 1981. He studied at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, and graduated with a Master of Science degree in chemistry in 1986.[1]

Political career

Kem Sokha in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in August 2022.

His political career began in 1993, when he was elected a representative for Takéo Province; at that time he was a member of Son Sann's Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party. In 1999, he joined the royalist FUNCINPEC and subsequently elected a senator. He resigned from his Senate seat in 2001. In 2002, he founded the Cambodian Center for Human Rights but left that organisation to join politics in 2005. He founded the Human Rights Party, which came third in the 2008 elections.

Kem Sokha is well known for his weekly town hall meetings at local level throughout the country. He was the first to introduce a free and open forum discussing issues concerning civic and political rights, as well as social and economic development, at village level in Cambodia. Kem Sokha is known for his non-violent, political tolerant policy standing on democratic and unity principles. His words are often quoted and repeated by ordinary Cambodians. His phrase "Do Min Do" (literal translation to English: "Change or no change") became the anthem for the Cambodia National Rescue Party's election Campaign in July 2013, which drew an unprecedented amount of youth participation.

On 26 August 2014, Kem was elected by the National Assembly as its First Vice President with 116 votes,

National Assembly on 31 January 2017 following a proposal by Prime Minister Hun Sen.[4]

On 2 March 2017, Kem was elected president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party at the party's congress, along with three other deputies.[9] Under his leadership, the party made sweeping gains in the June 2017 local elections, winning 482 of 1,646 communes.[10]

Treason allegations

In September 2017, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Kem with "treason and espionage", and for allegedly orchestrating the 2014 Veng Sreng street protests.[11][12] He was arrested at his home on September 3, 2017.[12] Hun Sen and other Cambodian government officials alleged that Kem was conspiring with the United States of America.[12][13] Kem's lawyers have alleged violations of their client's rights under Article 149 of the Criminal Procure Code.[14] He was released on bail on 10 September 2018, more than a year after his arrest, but was placed under house arrest.[15] He was released from house arrest on 10 November 2019 but is banned from travelling outside the country and taking part in political activities.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^
    VOA Khmer. Voice of America
    . 11 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b "លោក កឹម សុខា ត្រូវបានបោះឆ្នោតជ្រើសរើសជាអនុប្រធានទី១សភា" [Kem Sokha elected as first vice president of National Assembly]. Radio Free Asia (in Khmer). 26 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Sokha stripped of National Assembly vice presidency". The Phnom Penh Post. 30 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b Kuch, Naren (31 January 2017). "Culture of Dialogue Faces Official Demise". The Cambodia Daily. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Cambodia opposition leader Kem Sokha sentenced to 27 years". Al Jazeera. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Court rules Kem Sokha guilty". The Phnom Penh Post. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  7. ^ "ព្រះមហាក្សត្រប្រទានលើកលែងទោសប្រធានស្តីទីបក្សប្រឆាំង លោក កឹម សុខា" (in Khmer). Radio Free Asia. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Sokha to Replace Rainsy in Parliamentary Position". The Cambodia Daily. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  9. ^ Meas Sokchea & Erin Handley (3 March 2017). "New era of CNRP begins". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Both Sides Claim Victory in Cambodian Commune Elections". Voice of America. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  11. ^ Titthara, May (September 7, 2017). "Sokha implicated over Veng Sreng". The Khmer Times. Prime Minister Hun Sen has promised to take legal action against opposition leader Kem Sokha for allegedly orchestrating the 2014 Veng Sreng street protests.
  12. ^ .
  13. ^ Oung, Sereyvuth; Lipes, Joshua (September 6, 2017). "Cambodia's Hun Sen Vows to Lead For One More Decade". Translated by Muong, Nareth. Radio Free Asia. Prak Sokhorn claimed that the video showed Kem Sokha had been conspiring with the U.S. since 1993 to overthrow Hun Sen and told ambassadors that the opposition leader's video statement was deemed in flagrante delicto, allowing police to arrest him despite his parliamentary immunity.
  14. ^ Chheng, Niem; Kijewski, Leonie (September 7, 2017). "Sokha's lawyers slam lack of representation". The Phnom Penh Post. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017.
  15. British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC News
    . 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Kem Sokha Released From House Arrest, Still Prohibited From Leaving The Country And Engaging In Political Activity". VOA Cambodia. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Minority Leader of the National Assembly
2016–2017
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Preceded by Vice President of the
National Assembly of Cambodia

2014–2015
Succeeded by
New office
Member of the Senate

1999–2001
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Political offices
Preceded by President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party
2017
Succeeded by
Party dissolved
New office Vice President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party
2012–2017
Succeeded by
New office President of the Human Rights Party
2007–2012
Succeeded by
Son Soubert