(RFA)

The Phnom Penh Capital Court earlier this month convicted Nuon Toeun, who was working in Malaysia before she was arrested and deported at the request of Cambodian authorities late last year, in two separate cases. The 33-year-old former domestic worker's two convictions would result in her serving two years in prison on charges of incitement and insulting the king.

Toeun's arrest and deportation followed posts she made on Facebook that the government alleged were critical of former prime minister and current Senate President Hun Sen. Toeun has since been detained in Phnom Penh’s Correctional Centre 2.

The court convicted Toeun in two cases on 1 April 2025, following trial hearings held on 7 March. She was convicted of incitement to disturb social security and incitement to discriminate in the first case, as well as incitement to disturb social security and insulting the king in the second case. Each verdict sentenced Toeun to 18 months in prison and to pay fines of two million riel (about US$500). The court issued two separate detention orders against Toeun, with her 18-month sentences commencing from each October 2024 and April 2025. As a result, she is currently facing up to two years in prison.

Cambodian political activists and critics living abroad have increasingly faced arrest, deportation and other risks in recent months. In November 2024, six Cambodian political opposition members were returned from Thailand to face treason charges in Cambodia. In January 2025, a former opposition parliamentarian, Lim Kimya, was killed in Bangkok.