The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday will hear the case against opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour, who was arrested and saw his parliamentary immunity bypassed last month over a Facebook post.

Sok Hour faces charges of forging a public document, using a forged public document and incitement to cause serious unrest, after he posted a “fake” section of a 1979 border treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam on August 13, which stated the countries would dissolve their border.

The following day, Prime Minister Hun Sen labelled the post “treasonous” and demanded the arrest of the Sam Rainsy Party senator, which came two days later.

The Cambodian People’s Party-controlled Senate subsequently voted to allow criminal proceedings against Sok Hour, effectively stripping him of his parliamentary immunity.

Sok Hour’s defence lawyer, Choung Choungy, yesterday said the investigating judge had wrapped his investigation last week. “I and the other three lawyers will defend Sok Hour at the trial on October 2,” he said.

Sok Hour faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.