A court found opposition member Mu Sochua guilty of defaming the prime minister. Observers say it fits a pattern of assault on political criticism and free speech in the young democracy.

August 6, 2009
By David Montero
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A Cambodian court found a prominent politician guilty of defaming the country's prime minister Thursday in what analysts call a setback on Cambodia's shaky path to democracy. The conviction of Mu Sochua, an outspoken member of the opposition, amplifies a pattern of assault on political dissent and free speech, say the analysts.

"This is a reversal of hard-won freedoms, to have a member of Parliament threatened and sued," says Sara Colm, a researcher for Human Rights Watch based in Phnom Penh, the capital.

Ms. Sochua's ordeal, which has polarized Cambodia's political landscape for months, began with an act of defiance. In April, during a public address in Kampot Province, Prime Minister Hun Sen derided the province's parliamentarian by calling her a cheung klang – literally "a strong leg" in English, a term considered highly offensive to women.