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A Cambodian court on Tuesday charged opposition lawmaker Um Sam An with two counts -- inciting discrimination and inciting chaos to social security -- which carry a maximum prison term of five years, a defense lawyer said.
"Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Top Chhun Heng formally charged him with the two counts and ordered to place him in a pre- trial detention at Prey Sar prison," Som Sokong, defense lawyer for Um Sam An, said on Tuesday.
He said, according to the Penal Code, the charge of inciting discrimination carries a jail term of three years and the charge of inciting chaos to social security faces up to two years in prison.
Um Sam An, a lawmaker from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested early Monday morning in northwestern Siem Reap province shortly after he returned from the United States, where he had lived in self-exile since last July.
The arrest was made after the lawmaker last year launched a campaign to accuse the Cambodian government of using fake border maps with Vietnam.
In a statement on Monday, the CNRP condemned Um Sam An's arrest, saying that the arrest was made in the violation of his immunity as a lawmaker and called for his immediate release.
In August last year, opposition senator Hong Sok Hour was arrested for posting a fake version of a Cambodia-Vietnam border treaty on a Facebook page.
He was charged with falsifying public documents, using fake documents, and inciting chaos to social security. If convicted, he could face up to 17 years in jail.
