Cheam Channy, 44, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) arrested last year, was greeted by 300 supporters, including Buddhist monks and party officials carrying flowers.
“I am so excited about my release,” a smiling Cheam Channy told reporters a day after King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned the opposition MP and his leader, Sam Rainsy.
“I will continue to serve the interests of the people,” he said after thanking the King and Hun Sen for his freedom.
Cheam Channy was arrested shortly after losing his parliamentary immunity last year and sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of forming an illegal armed group.
He denied the charges, which diplomats and human rights groups described as trumped up and a political attack on the SRP by Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
Sam Rainsy, who has spent much of the past 12 months in France, was also pardoned on Sunday after being sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison in December for defaming Hun Sen and his junior coalition partner, Prince Norodom Ranariddh.
The pardons came after Sam Rainsy and Hun Sen agreed on Friday to end their bitter political and personal feud in the interests of the nation.
Analysts said the gesture by Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who has ruled Cambodia for two decades, was aimed at regaining international support for his government ahead of a key donor meeting next month.
Hun Sen has been accused of increasing authoritarianism recently due to the arrests, heavily criticised by the United States and other Western nations which provide aid, of several human rights activists on criminal defamation charges.
“This is more than just national reconciliation by Prime Minister Hun Sen. He also wants to gain foreign support in the upcoming donor meeting,” Thun Saray, the head of human rights group ADHOC, told Reuters.
Cambodia is burdened with a legacy of civil war and the Khmer Rouge genocide which killed 1.7 million people, and its government relies on $600 million in annual foreign aid.
“International donors want to see the opposition party to play a wider role in contributing to build the country,” Thun Saray said.
SRP spokesman Oeur Sam Ol said Sam Rainsy planned to return to Cambodia later this week.
“Our leaders think it is best to join hands together to build our nation like others in the world,” he said. “This is the best solution for all. No one wins, but our poor people are the winners.”
