CathNews New Zealand

Cambodia’s government has been using the coronavirus pandemic as a cover to make arbitrary arrests of opposition political leaders and its critics, says a US-based human rights organization.

The government has detained at least 30 people for spreading “fake news” since the start of the outbreak in the country in January, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on April 29.

Initially reluctant to respond to the coronavirus threat, Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen is now using the pandemic as cover to crack down on his perceived enemies, the rights group said.

The government “should immediately and unconditionally drop the charges against all those accused of crimes in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association,” HRW said in a statement. Read more

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News category: News Shorts, World.