A court in Cambodia on Wednesday convicted self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy in absentia of planning to cede national land to a foreign entity and sentenced him to life in prison, a punishment that is mostly symbolic since the government has blocked his return home several times.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also banned him from taking part in politics for allegedly agreeing in 2013 to hand over territory to a hilltribe minority if he came to power, his lawyer, Yong Phanith, told The Associated Press.
