No word has come from the Royal Palace on whether the king will intervene to allow an environmentalist from Spain to remain in the country.
Kem Sokha, vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, sent a letter to King Norodom Sihanouk earlier this week, requesting help for Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, who campaigns against a Chinese dam in western Cambodia through his Mother Nature NGO.
He has been requested to leave by Cambodian authorities, who have seized his passport and say they will not renew his visa, which expires Friday.
Interior Ministry officials say they would prefer him to leave and “reapply” for a visa, a move the activist says is aimed at getting him to leave the country willingly, something he says he will not do.
It is unclear what the king could do to intervene, or whether he will take any action.
“There is no reply from His Majesty yet,” Kem Sokha told VOA Khmer.