Self-exiled dissident returns to Cambodia after receiving pardon

Political dissident Sourn Serey Ratha returned to Cambodia on Thursday after spending eight years in the United States in self-imposed exile to avoid an arrest for his alleged plot to overthrow the government.

Ratha is the leader of the so-called Khmer People Power Movement which has been labelled as a "terrorist group" by the Cambodian government.

The dissident, who was convicted and sentenced in absentia in January this year to seven years in jail by a Cambodian court for incitement, plotting an attack and obstructing elections in 2013, was pardoned by King Norodom Sihamoni in July at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The pardon cleared the way for his return and the registration of his Khmer Power Party in July.

Some 300 supporters greeted him at the Phnom Penh International Airport upon his arrival on Thursday morning.

Speaking to reporters at the airport, Ratha vowed to continue criticizing the government.

"I stop criticizing the government only if the government does not make any mistakes," he said.

Last month, the government also pardoned and freed Ratha's three accomplices, who had been arrested shortly before the 2013 elections after printing T-shirts with a message urging people not to vote and planning to distribute them ahead of the elections.

The trio were convicted in January this year of conspiracy and obstructing electoral procedures and were sentenced to between five and six years in prison.

Political analysts foresee that the presence of the Khmer Power Party may split the vote of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in the 2018 general elections.

Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said recently that the Khmer Power Party will not change the political landscape in Cambodia before the 2018 elections, but it may draw support from the "extremist group". Endi