CAMBODIA CRIMINALISES CRITICISM

Cambodia Criminalises Criticism of King.

Cambodia's government on Friday approved the country's first lese majeste law handling a five year sentence to anyone found guilty of insulting the King, a move  rights group fear will be used to target dissent.

Unlike neighbouring Thailand where royal defamation often results in decades in jail, Cambodia's largely symbolic monarchy was not until now shielded from criticism.

King Norodom Sihamoni

The law as adopted  during a cabinet  meeting chaired by premier Hun Sen, in authoritarian leader who is poised to extend his tenure at elections in July after dissolving the opposition and driving many of his critics into self-exile.

The new law which bans insulting  Cambodia's constitutional monarch King Norodom Sihamoni, was added to the  criminal code to ''uphold and protect the reputation and royal name,'' government spokesman Phay Siphan wrote in a  Facebook post.

''Insults to the King  shall be punished between one to five years in prison'' plus a $2,500 fine, the post said.

The power of the Cambodian Monarchy  has  waned significantly in recent decades under Hun Sen, a  domineering premier who has amassed tight control of the kingdom during his 33 years in office.

King Sihamoni, who took the throne in 2004, is considered a purely symbolic head of the state whose quiet, unflashy life stands in stark contrast to that of his politically ambitious father-

Who publicly clashed with the premier before abdicating.

King Sihamoni is well respected among  Cambodians and largely seen as above the political fray.

But rights campaigners warned that the lese majeste law is likely to be wielded as a political weapon in a country where courts are routinely accused of doing  Hun Sen's bidding.

[Agencies]