Sam Sokha, 38, is wanted by the Cambodian police for allegedly throwing a shoe at a billboard of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
Police say Sam Sokha is a labour activist who supported the country’s opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party has been aggressively prosecuting critics and political opponents before local elections take place across the country in June, according to the Associated Press.
WATCH: Cambodia’s opposition party elected Kem Sokha as their new leader during a party congress in Phnom Penh on March 2.
Sen has been in power for three decades but his rule seemed under siege in the 2013 election when the Cambodia National Party earned 55 seats in the National Assembly against Hun Sen’s 68.
The Facebook clip, according to the Associated Press, is just 13 seconds long and shows a woman believed to be Sokha looking at billboard of the ruling party on the side of the road and throwing a shoe at an image of Hun Sen, followed by another at a picture of his party colleague, National Assembly President Heng Samrin.
In the video, the woman says “This man even came here to destroy the nation.”
Sokha was supposed to appear in court Saturday for questioning, but after failing to appear, it was discovered she had fled her home. The charges against her, which include “insulting and inciting discrimination” carry a punishment of up to three years in prison if convicted.
But Sokha isn’t the only one to be accused of a crime by the Cambodian government in recent months. On Sunday, an opposition commune councillor was arrested and charged with clearing and grabbing state land, reports the Cambodia Daily. The accused, Neth Sao, is running for reelection on June 4 as a candidate for the CNRP.
In February, two CNRP candidates were arrested in separate cases in what the party claimed were attempts to keep them from running in the coming elections. The CPP reportedly denied these claims. In March, Senate President Say Chhum signed off on legislation awarding the ruling party sweeping powers to do away with any political party over “vaguely worded offenses.”
Most recently, Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy was sentenced to an additional 20 months in prison for defamation on top of an original term of five years.
(With files from Reuters and the Associated Press)