Cambodian man jailed for three years for offending king in Facebook posts

11 January 2019 - 11:38 By Odwa Mjo
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A Cambodian man has been jailed for posting an insulting picture of the king on Facebook.
A Cambodian man has been jailed for posting an insulting picture of the king on Facebook.
Image: 123RF/ymgerman

A Cambodian man has been sentenced to three years in jail for insulting the country’s king in Facebook posts.

According to Reuters, Leng Cholsa was jailed and ordered to pay $1,250 (about R17,000) for posts he uploaded on Facebook in June 2018, insulting King Norodom Sihamoni.

Cholsa is the third person to be convicted under the lèse majesté law which was passed in February 2018.

According to the BBC, lèse majesté is a law that states that people who "defame, insult or threaten" the royal family will face punishment. The law is also applicable in Thailand.

In December 2018, the Phnom Penh Post reported that 70-year-old Ban Samphy, a barber and deputy leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party in the Siem Reap province, was the second person to be convicted under the law.

Samphy was sentenced to a year in jail, with five months suspended, after sharing an offensive photo of the king on social media that year.  

Fifty-year-old Kheang Navy was the first Cambodian to be arrested under the lèse majesté law for making comments about the king on Facebook. 


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