Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has been released on bail after spending more than a year in prison on widely decried treason charges.
"He's home now," Mu Sochua, a former vice president of the court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said.
CNRP president Sokha was arrested last September for allegedly conspiring with the United States to overthrow the Cambodian government. He and the US government deny the allegations. He faces 15 to 30 years in prison if convicted.
His arrest was part of a broader government crackdown on government critics and the main opposition CNRP, which was outlawed by the Supreme Court last year and banned from participating in elections in July that were swept by the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Hun Sen has led Cambodia for more than 30 years, and the CNRP was widely seen as the only viable challenger to his Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
Kem Monovithya, Sokha's daughter and a CNRP spokeswoman, said on Twitter that Sokha was released from prison late on Sunday on the condition that he "remains within a block radius of his house" and does not communicate with CNRP leaders, media and "foreigners."
Monovithya did not reply to a dpa request for further comment.
After more than a year in provisional detention awaiting trial, Sokha was released on bail overnight and arrived at his home in the capital Phnom Penh, Sochua said.
He is "virtually under house arrest," she said.
The CNRP would continue to campaign for Sokha's charges to be dropped, the "full return of democracy" in the country and a new election with the CNRP competing, she added.
Share
