A group of civil society representatives and university students has launched a petition urging authorities not to jail opposition leader Mu Sochua, who has refused to pay a fine and compensation fee levied against her after she was convicted of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen at a press conference last year. The petition, posted online yesterday, states: “Allowing Mu Sochua to be imprisoned will not only take away one of Cambodia’s most important political figures and human rights advocates, but will also symbolically undermine the voice of all Cambodian women.” Signatory Thida Khus, executive director of the NGO Silaka and secretary general of the Committee to Promote Women in Politics, said yesterday that the prosecution of Mu Sochua had implications beyond the individual case. “Such a thing points to a worrying situation for women in politics,” she said.