The Cambodia government dismisses the State Department's statements demanding the release of activists imprisoned and stopping all its political suits against other activists, and mocking the US saying it is the court's decision, says the government spokesman Khieu Kanharith.
Mr. Khieu is wondering what ground the State Department's statement was based on and saying the Cambodian government cannot do anything, and that the government files suits but the court decides.
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights' (CCHR) director Kem Sokha was arrested and imprisoned on charges connected to a banner displayed on the International Human Rights Day allegedly defaming the government of having bloody hands and being a second Pol Pot regime.
The US is worried that the human rights activists, the media, the opposition party's members, and civil society leaders' arrests will derail the march of democracy and slows Cambodia's development, says Mr. McCormack, U.S.
State Department spokesman. Mr. McCormack says further that the U.S. demands the Cambodian government to stop its arrests and stop the conviction of those who use their rights to express their opinions, and release the activists who are detained in prison.
Opposition party legislator Keo Remy says that the international reaction is very important and that the government should reconsider its action.