Cambodia's top court dissolves main opposition party

Phnom Penh, Nov 16 :  The Cambodian Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the disqualification of 118 of its members just eight months before the General Elections.

The CNRP is accused of treason and conspiring with foreign agents to overthrow the government, charges that the party has denied, Efe news agency reported.

The disqualification, which will last five years, affects party leader Kem Sokha who has been in prison since September on charges of conspiring against the Cambodian government with foreign forces, particularly the US. He faces between 15 to 30 years in prison.

Police were deployed outside the court and throughout the centre of the capital Phnom Penh ahead of the ruling, which was delivered at the end of an all-day hearing.

Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia condemned the court's decision, with the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) denouncing the Cambodian judiciary of having "demolished the final pillar of Cambodian democracy and ushering in a new era of de facto one-party rule".

The court had "once again proved its main objective is not justice, but the furtherance of the Prime Minister's personal prerogatives", an APHR statement said.

The APHR added that party's dissolution had "effectively robbed" the national elections slated for next year "of any legitimacy".

In 2013, Prime Minister Hun Sen -- who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 -- won a narrow re-election victory polls that were marred by accusations of fraud.

Sen has repeatedly accused the opposition of planning popular uprisings and has warned that the country could descend into civil war if his Cambodian People's Party was to lose next year's General Election.

Cambodia held its first democratic elections in 1993 after more than two decades of conflict, including the reign of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79) during which about 1.7 million people died.