KI Media
By Jared Ferrie Asia Times (Hong Kong)
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"This is a public secret. Everyone knows that the court is under control of the government ... This issue of the border could have been downplayed.
They take any chance to silence the opposition" - Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human RightsPHNOM PENH - The leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, Sam Rainsy, skipped his court date on Wednesday, eluding an arrest warrant issued for allegedly uprooting border markers on the frontier with Vietnam.
Rainsy instead remained in France, where he had fled in advance of the hearing because he felt the case was politically motivated.The Svay Rieng province court convicted villagers Meas Srey and Prum Chea to one year in prison and ordered them each to pay 5 million riel (US$1,200) in compensation to district authorities for moving the border posts.
Rainsy was convicted in absentia to two years in prison, handed an 8 million riel fine and ordered to pay 5 million riels compensation to district authorities.
All three must pay an additional 50 million riel in compensation for destroying the border posts, according to the ruling.
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