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Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Appeal date pushed back for Sok Hour

Appeal date pushed back for Sok Hour

| Publication date 05 January 2017 | 22:43 ICT

Protestors outside Phnom Penh court before Hong Sok Hour's appearance in court late last year.
Protestors outside Phnom Penh court before Hong Sok Hour's appearance in court late last year. Hong Menea

Appeal date pushed back for Sok Hour

The Court of Appeal yesterday postponed a hearing for opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour after his legal team failed to appear.

Sok Hour was sentenced to seven years in prison last November after he was found guilty on charges stemming from a Facebook video in which he said a “fake” Cambodia-Vietnam border treaty showed that the post-Khmer Rouge government planned to dissolve their shared border.

He was found guilty of incitement to commit a crime as well as forgery.

At the Appeal Court yesterday, none of his five defense attorneys, nor Sok Hour himself, showed up. Presiding judge Seng Sivutha said defence lawyers had requested a postponement.

“The lawyers requested to delay the trial on January 4 for two reasons: requesting the court to call treaty experts to explain about the treaty, and connecting the internet to the court room to [show Sok Hour’s] research,” Sivutha said.

“This is a criminal case. We cannot open the hearing without the lawyers, although the request was not reasonable,” he said, adding the hearing will now take place sometime next month.

Contact author: Niem Chheng

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