PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Monday night warned the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) for planning mass protests against the conviction on Friday of CNRP's vice president Kem Sokha in a prostitution case.
"I've ordered to all competent authorities to get ready to smash all illegal activities in order to protect the happiness of the people," Hun Sen wrote on his official Facebook page. "At any cost, the government must protect political stability, security and social order because these are the needs of the nation and people."
His warning came after the CNRP issued a statement on Monday afternoon, announcing that it will organize mass demonstrations after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sept. 9 sentenced, in absentia, Kem Sokha to five months in prison for "refusal to appear" in court over a prostitution case.
Kem Sokha has been holed up at the CNRP's headquarters on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh since May 26 in fear of arrest, as dozens of his loyalists have also gathered at the party's headquarters to protect him.
