10/05/2022 Cambodia (International Christian Concern) – In 2019, Christian political activist Theary Seng was arrested after being accused of treason for supporting the former opposition leader Saim Rainsy and the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). She was sentenced to six years in jail.  

Current Prime Minister Hun Sen, who heads a highly authoritarian regime, had Saim Rainsy arrested in 2019 for attempting to return to Cambodia from his self-imposed exile in Paris. Hundreds of his supporters were subsequently arrested, with Theary Seng being one of them. 

Theary Seng appealed her verdict to the Supreme Court of Cambodia last month, but the court upheld her six-year jail term. The judge ruled on her case and said that releasing Ms. Seng would upset public order.  

Ms. Seng is a dual Cambodian American citizen and has edited a version of the Bible written in Khmer, the Cambodian national language. She said ahead of the verdict, “This regime will not let me go free. It will be an unfair and unjust verdict because I am innocent. The others charged with me are innocent. But we are living in a dictatorship.” 

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