Ten suspects face treason charge in Cambodia

A Cambodian court has charged 10 suspects, who were arrested last week, with conspiring to commit treason and they could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, a National Police spokesman said on Sunday.

The 10 men were apprehended on Oct 29 and Oct 30 in Phnom Penh on the grounds that they were members of the Khmer National Liberation Front, an anti-government movement, National Police spokesman Lieutenant General Kirt Chantharith said at a news conference.

"Our authorities seized 770 KNLF flags and 461 anti-government pamphlets from those suspects during the raids," he said. "Moreover, those suspects have assignment letters from the KNLF."

Chantharith said the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged them with conspiring to commit treason, a crime that could lead to between five and 10 years' imprisonment under the country's criminal code.

He said the Denmark-based KNLF was founded in December 2012 by fugitive Sam Serei and his accomplices.

"The group has a plot to overthrow the legitimate Cambodian government through forming illegal armed forces, sending spies to key military locations, distributing anti-government leaflets, and training illegal armed forces along the Thai border," he said.

In April, a Cambodian court convicted 13 KNLF men of treason for forming illegal armed forces and sentenced them to between five and nine years in prison. Only seven of the convicted have been serving their sentences as the others had fled the country.

(China Daily 11/03/2014 page11)