A court in Cambodia has sentenced a government critic and land-rights campaigner to 20 years in prison on charges of seeking to incite a rebellion against the state.

The court in Phnom Penh delivered the verdict Monday against Mam Sonando, who heads the independent Beehive radio station.

The court said Sonando incited villagers to take up arms.

He said he was innocent of the charges, and human rights activists have slammed the decision as politically motivated.

Cambodia has carried out an intensifying wave of sometimes violent forced evictions affecting tens of thousands of people.

Activists say officials are increasingly cracking down on those who challenge the land grabs.