Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Police arrested the leader of Cambodia’s main opposition party in a surprise raid on his home in the capital early Sunday, and the government issued a statement accusing him of treason.

The arrest of Kem Sokha dealt a major blow to the opposition ahead of elections due next year and was sure to raise political tensions in the volatile Southeast Asian country.

The move comes amid a push by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving rulers, to shutter critical news outlets in what analysts say is a bid to strengthen its position before the 2018 vote.

Kem Sokha was taken away in handcuffs after a force of between 100 to 200 officers arrived at his Phnom Penh home around midnight, according his daughter, Monovithya Kem, who is also a member of his Cambodia National Rescue Party.

Monovithya Kem said on Twitter that police showed no warrant for her father’s arrest. She said later that his whereabouts were unknown, but Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Khieu Sopheak said that Kem Sokha was detained at the Tropeang Phlong prison facility in Tbuong Khmum province, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Phnom Penh.

He said the next step will be his court appearance to officially face the charges, which carry a prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.

“In the video clip that the government obtained, he has admitted himself that he was trained and received funding from a powerful foreign country to topple the government,” Khieu Sopheak said. “This is a clear crime and there’s no need to make further investigation because he has confessed already,” he added.

In an official statement issued after the arrest, the government said it had obtained a video clip and other evidence indicating “secret plans of a conspiracy between Kem Sokha … and foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

The statement gave no details but called the actions “treason.”

Kem Sokha’s party said the arrest violated the constitution because he has parliamentary immunity and called on the government to release him.

The administration of Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has held a tight grip on power for more than three decades, has put increasing legal pressure on its critics, the media and political opponents ahead of national elections due in July.

Legal threats forced Kem Sokha’s predecessor, Sam Rainsy, to resign this year from the Cambodia National Rescue Party that he had led.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrest was “an extremely disturbing development and a setback for democracy in Cambodia.”

“The government’s charges lack credibility, given its long record of misusing its legal system to silence or intimidate critics and political opponents,” Sifton said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Police arrested the leader of Cambodia’s main opposition party in a surprise raid on his home in the capital early Sunday, and the government issued a statement accusing him of treason.

The arrest of Kem Sokha dealt a major blow to the opposition ahead of elections due next year and was sure to raise political tensions in the volatile Southeast Asian country.

The move comes amid a push by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving rulers, to shutter critical news outlets in what analysts say is a bid to strengthen its position before the 2018 vote.

Kem Sokha was taken away in handcuffs after a force of between 100 to 200 officers arrived at his Phnom Penh home around midnight, according his daughter, Monovithya Kem, who is also a member of his Cambodia National Rescue Party.

Monovithya Kem said on Twitter that police showed no warrant for her father’s arrest. She said later that his whereabouts were unknown, but Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Khieu Sopheak said that Kem Sokha was detained at the Tropeang Phlong prison facility in Tbuong Khmum province, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Phnom Penh.

He said the next step will be his court appearance to officially face the charges, which carry a prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.

“In the video clip that the government obtained, he has admitted himself that he was trained and received funding from a powerful foreign country to topple the government,” Khieu Sopheak said. “This is a clear crime and there’s no need to make further investigation because he has confessed already,” he added.

In an official statement issued after the arrest, the government said it had obtained a video clip and other evidence indicating “secret plans of a conspiracy between Kem Sokha … and foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

The statement gave no details but called the actions “treason.”

Kem Sokha’s party said the arrest violated the constitution because he has parliamentary immunity and called on the government to release him.

The administration of Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has held a tight grip on power for more than three decades, has put increasing legal pressure on its critics, the media and political opponents ahead of national elections due in July.

Legal threats forced Kem Sokha’s predecessor, Sam Rainsy, to resign this year from the Cambodia National Rescue Party that he had led.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrest was “an extremely disturbing development and a setback for democracy in Cambodia.”

“The government’s charges lack credibility, given its long record of misusing its legal system to silence or intimidate critics and political opponents,” Sifton said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.</s>Kenya Opposition Leader Says Will Not Share Power

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The case of the opposition leader, Kem Sokha, and his alleged assignation has dominated politics for weeks and has raised tension in the run-up to a 2018 election that could prove to be veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen’s most serious test at the ballot box.

Opponents of Hun Sen say the self-styled strongman is using the judiciary to neutralize his opponents. The government denies that.

Kem Sokha is acting chief of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Party leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, lives in self-exile to avoid arrest for an old defamation case he was pardoned for. His party has denounced the new warrant as politically motivated.

All 68 members of parliament from Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party voted to allow a court to proceed with an investigation into Kem Sokha stemming from a secretly recorded, and leaked, telephone conversation between him and a woman who the government says he was having an illicit affair with.

Prostitution was made illegal in Cambodia in 2008 even though it is widespread.

Kem Sokha has neither confirmed nor denied having an affair with the woman and has dismissed the action against him as politically motivated. He has ignored court summonses, most recently last Thursday.

Trade unions allied with the CNRP have called for protests if Kem Sokha is arrested.

“The CNRP wants Cambodia to be ruled by rule of law and a multi-party democracy,” Son Chhay, a senior CNRP lawmaker, told a news conference.

The party said Monday’s vote was unconstitutional.

The last election in 2013 marked Hun Sen’s toughest electoral challenge in three decades of rule and the opposition is expected to mount a sterner test next time as younger voters seek change.

Hun Sen has warned that an election victory for the opposition would see a return to civil war.

The United Nations on Sunday voiced alarm at the escalating tension between Hun Sen’s party and the opposition, in particular the arrest or attempted arrest of politicians.</s>Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested early Sunday on an espionage charge, accused of conspiring with a foreign power to harm the country, according to a government statement.

Kem Sokha’s daughter, Kem Monovithya, tweeted: “Kem Sokha and all bodyguards are taken away by 100-200 police without warrant after they raided his home. We don’t know where they take him.”

The Cambodian government statement said Kem Sokha, the leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, had been charged with espionage under Article 443 of Cambodia’s criminal code.

“The Royal Government would like to inform the public that according to a video clip broadcasted by the Cambodian Broadcasting Network, based in Australia, and other evidences collected by the competent authority, it clearly proves the conspiracy between Kem Sokha and the accomplices with foreign power, which harms the Kingdom of Cambodia,” the statement read.

The charge carries a jail term of 15 to 30 years. The statement said Kem Sokha was arrested “in flagrante delicto,” which means caught in the act, and allows for a lawmaker’s parliamentary immunity to be lifted.

His arrest follows the script of a conspiracy narrative the pro-government website Fresh News has written recently without citing supporting evidence, in which the CIA, the U.S. Embassy, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, a Taiwanese “extremist group” and the opposition leader’s family are all accused of plotting a color revolution.

The term color revolution refers to pro-democracy movements that have swept through states in the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and the Middle East to nonviolently overthrow autocratic regimes.

At the same time, the Cambodian government has launched a sweeping crackdown on free speech, shutting down more than a dozen radio stations, an independent newspaper and the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-government-funded NGO.

The tougher approach by the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen comes against a backdrop of growing opposition support, especially among younger voters.

Hun Manith, one of Hun Sen’s sons, tweeted that Kem Sokha had confessed to having long-term plans with the United States.

“Thank to him [sic], we now know who was (is) the Third Hand … ,” he tweeted.

David Josar, deputy spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, told The Phnom Penh Post earlier this week that such claims against the U.S. government were “categorically false” and “intended to draw attention away from the recent deterioration in Cambodia’s political climate.”

The Cambodian government was almost toppled in the last national election in 2013 and is fighting for re-election in mid-2018.

It has ruled for more than three decades under the leadership of former Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen.

Analyst Sebastian Strangio, author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, said the arrest came as a surprise and signaled a departure from the tactic of alternating repression and relaxation that the regime has typically employed.

“They seem to be tearing up the rules by which Cambodia’s pseudodemocracy has run for the past 25 years,” Strangio said. “All bets are off right now, that’s really the feeling I’m getting.”

In a statement, John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, called the arrest “a disastrous setback for Cambodia’s human rights situation.”

“For 33 years, Hun Sen has used violence, threats, corruption and bogus legal charges to stay in power, and in the last year has been intensifying his attacks on civil society and the political opposition,” the statement said.

“Cambodia’s allies and donors should condemn this latest attack on democracy, and summon Cambodian ambassadors abroad to explain their government’s actions,” Sifton’s statement said. “The international community, which provides a major percentage of the Cambodian government’s annual budget, should put Hun Sen on notice that if he doesn’t reverse course, it will be impossible to consider next year’s elections free and fair.”

VOA has not yet been able to reach the Cambodian government, police or opposition for comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh and the U.S. State Department also have yet to reply to requests for comment.</s>Police in Cambodia have arrested opposition leader Kem Sokha, charging him with collaboration with foreign enemies to overthrow the government.

Sokha was arrested during a pre-dawn raid on his Phnom Penh home on Sunday for allegedly secretly planning against the government with the backing of the United States.

The government said in a statement that it had a video clip and other evidence pointing to a secret plan with foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia, which it said amounted to treason.

“It’s an act of treason with conspiracy with a foreign country, betraying his own nation. This requires arrest,” said Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Interior Ministry spokesman General Khieu Sopheak the next step would a trial.

The charges against Sokha carry a prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.

Sokha reportedly says in the purported video that “he was trained and received funding from a powerful foreign country to topple the government.”

His party denied the allegations and said the charges were politically motivated. The opposition party also said that the arrest violated the law because his position as an elected lawmaker gave him immunity from prosecution.

The party called for Kem Sokha's immediate release and urged the international community to “intervene for the release of Kem Sokha.”

Mu Sochua, a vice-president of the opposition party, insisted that the charges had been fabricated.

The arrest “sends a very clear signal that democracy in Cambodia is under severe threat,” she said.

Last month, the government stopped broadcasts by some radio stations and ordered an independent newspaper, The Cambodia Daily, to pay $6 million in tax, or face closure.</s>The government of Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has held on to power in Cambodia for more than three decades, has put increasing legal pressure on its critics, the media and political opponents ahead of national elections in 2018.</s>Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested in Phnom Penh early on Sunday and the government of veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen said he was accused of treason.

The government said in a statement it had a video clip and other evidence that pointed to "secret plans of conspiracy between Kem Sokha, others and foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia".

"The above act of this secret conspiracy is treason," the statement said.

Tension has been growing in the Southeast Asian country in the run-up to a general election next year in which the opposition party has been expected to pose a strong challenge to Hun Sen's rule of more than three decades.

Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge member who has become one of China's closest regional allies and has been making increasingly strident verbal attacks on the United States.

Kem Sokha's daughter Monovithya Kem, who is also an official in his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said on Twitter that Kem Sokha and his bodyguards had been taken away.

"Kem Sokha is in police custody at city hall. Handcuffed. No arrest warrant. After 100-200 police raided and vandalised his home," she said.

Fresh News, a pro-government website, earlier said it had video of Kem Sokha discussing overthrowing Hun Sen with support from the United States.

It showed a picture of him being led away in handcuffs.

Kem Sokha made no immediate comment and it was not clear if he had legal representation at this stage.

Last month Hun Sen's government stepped up attacks on the media, halting broadcasts by some radio stations and ordering an independent newspaper, The Cambodia Daily, to close if it did not pay a $6m tax bill within days.

The government also increased its rhetoric against the United States and ordered the expulsion of the US State Department-funded National Democratic Institute pro-democracy group.

READ MORE: Hun Sen rival Sam Rainsy resigns for 'sake of party'

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won local elections in June, although the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party fared reasonably well, increasing expectations of a close contest in the general election.

Kem Sokha took over the party leadership after his predecessor, Sam Rainsy, resigned in February. Rainsy said he quit to save the party in the face of a threatened ban on any party with a leader who has been convicted of a crime.

Rainsy lives in exile in France to avoid a defamation conviction he says was politically motivated.</s>Cambodian authorities have been accused of orchestrating a crackdown on critics of prime minister Hun Sen’s government after a prominent opposition leader was arrested and an independent newspaper closed down.

Kem Sokha, the leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party was arrested in a police raid in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was later charged with treason.

Kem Sokha had spoken with “American and Canadian professors” about how to instigate a revolution in Cambodia “with similar strategy as that done in Yugoslavia,” Cambodian authorities said in a statement released via Fresh News, a pro-government website.

Later on Sunday, the Cambodia Daily, an independent English-language newspaper published since 1993, said it was closing after it failed to pay a tax bill of $6.3 million.</s>PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Police arrested the leader of Cambodia’s main opposition party in a surprise raid on his home in the capital early Sunday, and the government issued a statement accusing him of treason.

The arrest of Kem Sokha dealt a major blow to the opposition ahead of elections due next year and was sure to raise political tensions in the volatile Southeast Asian country.

The move comes amid a push by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving rulers, to shutter critical news outlets in what analysts say is a bid to strengthen its position before the 2018 vote.

Kem Sokha was taken away in handcuffs after a force of between 100 to 200 officers arrived at his Phnom Penh home around midnight, according his daughter, Monovithya Kem, who is also a member of his Cambodia National Rescue Party.

Monovithya Kem said on Twitter that police showed no warrant for her father’s arrest. She said later that his whereabouts were unknown.

His Cambodia National Rescue Party said the arrest violated the constitution because Kem Sokha has parliamentary immunity and called on the government to release him.

In an official statement issued after the arrest, the government said it had obtained a video clip and other evidence indicating “secret plans of a conspiracy between Kem Sokha … and foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

The statement gave no details but called the actions “treason.”

The administration of Hun Sen, an authoritarian leader who has held a tight grip on power for more than three decades, has put increasing legal pressure on its critics, the media and political opponents ahead of national elections due in July.

Legal threats forced Kem Sokha’s predecessor, Sam Rainsy, to resign this year from the Cambodia National Rescue Party that he had led.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrest was “an extremely disturbing development and a setback for democracy in Cambodia.”

“The government’s charges lack credibility, given its long record of misusing its legal system to silence or intimidate critics and political opponents,” Sifton said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.
Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is arrested for alleged treason.