Cambodia’s courts saw 48 new appointments late last year, including the transfer of Phnom Penh judges who presided over recent mass trials against opposition activists, according to the Royal Gazette.

A royal decree dated November 25, 2022, and released by the Council of Ministers on June 14, 2023, appoints 48 judges to new positions in provincial, municipal and appeal courts, including as court presidents and deputies.

Among them are three judges who formerly worked at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and were in charge of trials against opposition activists: judge Ros Piseth, who was newly appointed as president of the Ratanakiri Provincial Court; and judges Im Vannak and Khun Sona, who were appointed to be judges of the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh.

Ros Piseth and Im Vannak conducted incitement and plotting trials against former CNRP activists in 2019 and 2020, while Im Vannak also handled a trial against Mother Nature environmental activists. Khun Sona presided over the trial of Seam Pluk, founder of the National Heart Party, and 12 others charged with the forgery of thumbprints.

A fourth judge, Chum Sangva, who formerly worked at the Battambang Provincial Court, was transferred to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and presided over a hearing in Seam Pluk’s trial on February 23.