(Bangkok) – On April 30, 2026, the Phnom Penh Court of Appeal upheld the politically motivated conviction of the  Cambodian political opposition leader Kem Sokha, Human Rights Watch said today. The court extended Sokha’s de-facto house arrest and 27-year sentence that had been imposed in March 2023 and added an additional five-year ban on international travel. Cambodian authorities should immediately quash the conviction and release Sokha from custody. Sokha, 72, is the former president of the dissolved main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Since the Cambodian authorities arrested Sokha in 2017, he has been arbitrarily detained, mistreated in custody, and banned from voting or running for election. “The Cambodian government should drop this bogus prosecution of Kem Sokha, immediately release him, and unconditionally restore his political rights,” said  Bryony Lau , deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.…