This morning, elected opposition commune council chief Seang Chet was released from prison after yesterday receiving a royal pardon from King Sihamoni. The pardon came 48 hours after his conviction by the Phnom Penh court of first instance and means he will no longer have to serve a five year sentence for ”bribery of a witness” in a politically-motivated case led by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). He had already spent 228 days in detention.

The release follows an apparent easing of political tensions between the ruling and opposition party leaders after a similar pardon was granted to acting opposition leader Kem Sokha on 2 December after spending over six months at the opposition’s headquarters under defacto house-arrest.