Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the country’s main opposition party and banned more than 100 of its politicians from office for five years on Thursday, in a ruling blasted by a rights groups as the “death” of the nation’s democracy. The verdict was widely expected of a justice system warped by the influence of premier Hun Sen, whose is accused of ruthlessly targeting rivals ahead of 2018 polls. It nevertheless delivers a crushing blow to the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — a party that has fought tirelessly to break the authoritarian leader’s 32-year grip on power. “There was never any doubt about the verdict in this case, especially when one considers that the chief justice of the Supreme Court is a Hun Sen loyalist and party apparatchik who sits on the CPP central committee,” he added. Hun Sen, who ultimately defected from the Khmer Rouge and helped drive the regime from power, has a long history of undercutting his rivals through well-timed crackdowns and dubious court cases.

Source: Pakistan Today November 16, 2017 11:26 UTC