US announces punitive measures over concerns Cambodia’s elections were ‘neither free nor fair’

By SOPHENG CHEANG and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s longtime ruling party is lauding its landslide victory in weekend elections as a clear mandate for the next five years, but the United States says its stifling of the opposition meant the vote could not be considered free or fair and that Washington was taking punitive measures. Autocratic leader Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won 120 of 125 available seats in Sunday’s elections, according to preliminary results. The U.S. State Department said Monday it had “taken steps” to impose visa restrictions “on individuals who undermined democracy and implemented a pause of foreign assistance programs.”