One victim of the legal moves has been opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who did not return from a trip abroad last November when an old conviction for defamation was restored and his parliamentary immunity was stripped by the government’s legislative majority. It had been generally assumed that the conviction, carrying a two-year prison sentence, had been lifted by a 2013 pardon which allowed Sam Rainsy to return from a previous period of self-exile. He also faces a stack of separate charges that could put him away for 17 years.

Supporters of Cambodia’s main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party listen to the party’s deputy leader Kem Sokha during his speech at the party’s headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016. Cambodia’s government and its opposition faced off in court and on the streets Friday as political tensions around challenges to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s long-standing autocratic rule show no signs of easing. (Heng Sinith/Associated Press)

Cambodian opposition leader gets 5-month jail sentence

AP / The Washington Post | 9 Sept. 2016