The March 11 statement by the EU’s European Parliament in particular condemned the recent trials in absentia of key members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which saw acting party chief Sam Rainsy and eight other senior party leaders sentenced on March 1 to prison terms ranging from 20 to 25 years for attempting to “overthrow the government.” The sentenced opposition figures had been tried by Cambodia’s state-controlled judiciary in absentia, “as they were not allowed to return to Cambodia to defend themselves in court,” the EU said.
The European Parliament’s statement follows a move by the EU in August 2020 to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodia’s exports, citing rollbacks in Cambodia on democracy and human rights.
