PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was granted a royal pardon on Monday from a 27-year prison sentence for treason, a month after an appeals court affirmed his conviction and punishment.
Hun Sen, the Senate president acting as head of state in the absence of King Norodom Sihamoni, issued the pardon freeing Kem Sokha from house arrest. Sihamoni is in China on an extended stay for medical treatment.
Prime Minister Hun Manet, in a statement posted on the Telegram social media platform, described the pardon as a step in strengthening national unity. Kem Sokha made no immediate public comment. His lawyers said the action did not lift a ban on him taking part in politics or leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.
The decision is unlikely to greatly affect the political climate in Cambodia, with other opposition figures in exile and where political and social activists continue to face restrictions on freedom of speech and movement.
“Hun Sen’s decision to pardon Kem Sokha after more than eight years in arbitrary detention partially reverses a grievous injustice, but it is deplorable that Sokha remains barred from participating in politics or leaving the country,” Elaine Pearson, the regional director for Human Rights Watch, said a statement.
She added: “Cambodia’s remaining opposition politicians and parties are still under constant threat of arbitrary arrest and baseless restrictions. The government needs to ensure that political rights are respected in the country.”
Kem Sokha was convicted in 2023 following a long period of pretrial detention. He was accused of conspiring with the United States to topple the Cambodian government. He has consistently denied the charge.
The primary evidence against him was a video of him discussing political advice from U.S.-based pro-democracy groups. He told the appeals court last month that he had never conspired with any foreign country to cost the lives of Cambodian citizens or the loss of national territory.
His arrest in 2017 marked the start of a broad government crackdown on independent media and political opponents, notably Kem Sokha’s popular Cambodia National Rescue Party.
The Supreme Court dissolved the party shortly after his 2017 arrest. That allowed Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to sweep all parliamentary seats in the 2018 elections.
Hun Sen was prime minister when Kem Sokha was arrested and convicted. In 2023, Hun Sen became Senate president and his son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister.
Hun Sen, who served 38 years as Cambodia’s leader, has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. While the government insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, the courts have frequently dissolved political parties seen as potential rivals and jailed or harassed their leaders.
Critics charge that the situation has not improved much under Hun Manet.
The Phnom Penh Appeals Court had affirmed Kem Sokha’s 27-year sentence at the end of April, following a much-delayed appeals process. It added a condition barring him from leaving the country for five years after his sentence was over.
Kem Sokha had visited his ailing 101-year-old mother with the court's permission earlier Monday before the pardon was announced.
He did not speak to the media, but a video posted on social media by his lawyer showed him hugging his mother and saying that if he were free, he would enter the Buddhist monkhood to honor her. He also said he would not seek revenge against those who put him in prison.
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Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
FILE -Former President of Cambodia National Rescue Party, Kem Sokha, greets from his car in front of his house in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
FILE - Former President of Cambodia National Rescue Party, Kem Sokha, greets from his car in front of his house in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, file)
The risk of a catastrophic explosion of a damaged chemical tank in Southern California has been eliminated following a close overnight inspection that confirmed a crack in the tank relieved pressure and cooled the chemical, authorities said Monday.
Officials said crews conducted tank temperature checks at night to reduce risks to firefighters, avoiding daytime operations when heat from the tank made conditions around it most dangerous. The overnight mission allowed crews to verify the crack and confirm temperatures were falling, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said Monday morning.
Covey said the results of overnight evaluation of the tank — that the temperature inside had dropped and that pressure had lowered — was “incredibly positive news.”
However, evacuation orders remained in place for about 50,000 people in Garden Grove, California, located south of Los Angeles.
Covey said falling temperatures and the release of pressure from the tank were allowing officials to “turn the corner on this incident” after days of concern about a possible explosion.
After the tank overheated Thursday and began venting vapors, firefighters have repeatedly sprayed the tank with water in an attempt to cool the chemical inside, methyl methacrylate, which is used to make plastic parts.
The tank's interior reached 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) Sunday, an increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) since Saturday, according to Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg. On Monday, Covey said the temperature fell to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Fire officials had said earlier a crack discovered in the tank over the weekend may have helped relieve pressure, reducing the risk of a catastrophic explosion.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday and said he asked President Donald Trump to issue an emergency declaration to bolster federal support for local and state officials.
The tank at GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft, holds 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate used to make plastic parts.
On Saturday, monitoring tests found air pollution around the evacuation zone was within normal limits and specialized equipment is being used to ensure gas is not released, state and federal environmental officials.
The first goal of firefighters was to cool off the chemical inside the tank to prevent a leak or explosion.
Drones were monitoring temperatures at 10-minute intervals to watch for any spikes. Containment barriers were set up to prevent the chemical from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean in the event of a spill, Covey said earlier.
As the interior temperature rises, methyl methacrylate converts from a liquid to a gas and increases the pressure, according to Purdue University engineering professor Andrew Whelton, who had said earlier that the crack could mean product or pressure is being released, reducing the chance of explosion.
“Think of a soda can. If you leave it in a hot car it can explode,” Whelton said. “But if you put a hole in the can, the product is released and the can itself doesn’t explode.”
An explosion that could spread the chemical over a broad area and send shrapnel flying would be the worst-case scenario, he said.
Aerial photos taken by The Associated Press showed streets in the area were empty Sunday, while several evacuation shelters were open. At a high school in neighboring La Palma, people slept in cars or on mats and sleeping bags on the asphalt.
Garden Grove is next to Anaheim, home to Disneyland’s two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders. Park officials said they were monitoring the situation.
Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to fact sheets about the chemical.
Whelton said if an explosion occurs, it will be crucial to conduct detailed air monitoring specifically for methyl methacrylate and not just generic tests for volatile organic compounds as officials did after a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which released more than 115,000 gallons (435,000 liters) of vinyl chloride after officials blew open five tank cars and burned the chemical.
Orange County health officials said the chemical is easy to smell and people may notice it over a large area without being harmed.
Some Garden Grove residents filed a class-action federal lawsuit Saturday against GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which operates the facility where the tank is located. Lawyers for the residents argued that regardless of what happens, property values in the surrounding community are sure to be impacted.
GKN Aerospace did not comment on the lawsuit but has apologized to residents and businesses forced to evacuate. It said Sunday it was “working around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.”
GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.
Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.
An evacuation map is displayed at the incident command post at the Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is sprayed on a damaged tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026, after the tank containing a chemical used to make plastic parts overheated Thursday. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
The streets remain empty in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026, after a storage tank containing a chemical used to make plastic parts overheated Thursday at an aerospace plastics facility. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Emergency personnel work at the incident command post at the Los Alamitos Race Course Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Cypress, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is sprayed on a damaged tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026, after the tank containing a chemical used to make plastic parts overheated Thursday. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
