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Cambodian court frees 5 opposition activists, 3 monks on bail

Xinhua, April 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Cambodian court decided on Monday to release on bail five opposition figures, charged with involvement in an insurrection, and three Buddhist monks accused of taking part in an illegal protest, opposition leader Sam Rainsy confirmed.

"The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided this (Monday) morning at 10:30 (local time) to allow eight prisoners to be bailed out," Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), wrote on his facebook page. "Those prisoners will be freed this afternoon."

Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator for the human rights group LICADHO (Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights), who monitored the bail hearing Monday morning, also confirmed that the court decided to release those activists on bail.

The opposition figures, including Meach Sovannara, head of the CNRP's information department, were arrested in November for their alleged involvement in an insurrection that left more than 40 people injured, mostly security guards, while the three monks were imprisoned for holding an illegal protest.

The release of the activists came just four days after lawmakers from the ruling and the CNRP approved the nine members of the new National Election Committee, a central component of the July political deal that ended the CNRP's 10-month boycott of parliament following the 2013 national elections.

Last Saturday, the country also released 10 female activists, who had been imprisoned on protest-related convictions last year, after King Norodom Sihamoni granted them a royal pardon. Endi