The appeal hearing of former opposition party leader Kem Sokha gets underway at the Appeal Court today.

Sokha was sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of “conspiring with a foreign power to overthrow the government” in March last year.

Today’s hearing is being held at Hall 1 of the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, from 8 to 11 am, with Judges Im Vannak, Khun Sona and Ly Sokleng serving as the trial chamber, according to the Appeal Court schedule.

The former president of the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested in September 2017.

He was charged under articles 439 and 443 of the Criminal Code and barred him from participating in politics and elections under Article 450.

The March 3, 2023 verdict of the Phnom Penh municipal court ordered him to be confined to his home under court supervision. He is also barred from leaving his residence, in Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak II commune, and from having contact with any Cambodian or foreign national outside of his family, unless given specific permission by the prosecutor.

Sokha has been inactive on social media since April 24 last year, when he hosted a meeting with Japanese ambassador to Cambodia Atsushi Ueno at his residence.