PHNOM PENH, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Exiled former Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy is facing the charges of insulting the nation's King Norodom Sihamoni over a Facebook post, according to a court summons on Wednesday.
The summons, issued by Seang Sok, deputy prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, invited Rainsy, former president of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), to appear in the court on July 12 to answer questions over a "case related to insulting the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia on a Facebook page."
The summons came after the 69-year-old former opposition leader wrote on his Facebook page on June 7 that the king's royal message that urged people to vote on the July 29 national election was a "forgery" or "written under duress".
The royal palace has said that the king's royal message was authentic.
If he is found guilty, Rainsy can be jailed between one and five years under the lese-majeste law.
The Southeast Asian country adopted in February the lese-majeste law that makes it a crime to insult the monarch. Since the law came into effect, three men have been arrested and charged with insulting the king over Facebook posts.
It is unlikely that Rainsy will appear in the court as he has lived in self-imposed exile in France since 2015 to avoid the at least eight-year-prison sentence for defamation and incitement cases.
In November last year, his CNRP was dissolved by the Supreme Court after his successor Kem Sokha was arrested and charged with treason for conspiring with a foreign power in an attempt to overthrow the government.
