Cambodian opposition leader sentenced to five years in jail over Facebook post
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy was sentenced to five years in prison in absentia on Tuesday for posting a fake government pledge to dissolve the Southeast Asian country's border with Vietnam.
The sentence follows months of tension between Cambodia's two main political parties, the Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
Hun Sen has been Cambodia's leader for three decades but his grip on power was shaken in a 2013 general election when the CNRP won 55 seats in the National Assembly, leaving the Cambodian People's Party with 68 seats in the 123-seat assembly.
Members of the opposition have complained of a crackdown by the government and its allies in a bid to intimidate critics before a general election in 2018.
