Cambodian authorities jailed a pair of Boeung Kak Lake activists today for their role in a "Black Monday" protest after charging them with incitement to commit a felony. If convicted, Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 4 million riels (U.S.$ 975) for the Aug. 15 demonstration that was part of a larger effort to win the release of jailed human rights workers and press the government to resolve land-grab issues across the country. Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Ly Sophanna, in a post on the mobile messaging app Telegram, said the court decided to detain the women in Prey Sar prison and that their trial will resume Aug. 22. Tep Vanny told reporters when she and Bov Sophea arrived at the courthouse that authorities had asked them where they obtained the dummies, black earrings, candles, incense sticks, U.N. and Cambodian flags, and other materials used in their protest. "There is no law banning citizens from using those materials for advocacy campaigns," she said. In the peaceful Aug. 15 protest that police broke up, the two women buried headless dummies in sand pits, saying they represented the court, court officials, critic Kem Ley's killer, and those behind the murder. Their missing heads represented "brainlessness," the protestors told RFA. Government critic Kem Ley was murdered on July 10, and many in Cambodia don't believe the government's story that he was killed by a former soldier over a debt. The seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents-has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar. In one of the most egregious land-grabs, some 3,500 families were evicted from the land surrounding Boeung Kak Lake, which was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Spanish researcher deported While authorities sent the two Cambodian women to Prey Sar prison, they deported a Spanish researcher who joined them in their Black Monday protest. Interior Ministry chief investigator Ouk Hay Seila told RFA's Khmer Service that Marga Bujosa Segado had violated Cambodian labor law and was also active in the land activists' demonstrations. "We deported her just now via Bangkok Airway to her own country," he said. Activists wearing black have demonstrated for the past 15 Mondays in an effort to win the release of four human rights workers and an election official who were jailed on charges widely seen as attempts to muzzle political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP. Hun Sen and other officials have condemned the protests as a "color revolution." Over the years, Hun Sen has repeatedly inveighed against "color revolutions," named after a series of popular movements that used passive resistance to topple governments in countries of the former Soviet Union during the 2000s. Um Sam An bail appeal denied The jailing of the Boeung Kak Lake activists comes as the supreme court rejected opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Um Sam An's bail request. His attorney, Hem Socheat, said the lawmaker's legal team may file a complaint to the Constitution Council of Cambodia, asking it to interpret the constitutional question surrounding the lawmaker's immunity. "What the investigative judge and the supreme court said is that they do not have the authority to examine the lawmaker's immunity," he said. The council was established under the constitution adopted in 1993 to decide if the laws approved by the national legislature are constitutional and to oversee litigation related to the election of the Cambodian National Assembly and Senate. Cambodian lawmakers have immunity from prosecution for opinions expressed in the exercise of their duties. A two-thirds vote of the legislature is necessary to strip a lawmaker of his immunity unless the legislator is caught in the act of committing a crime. Um Sam An was jailed after Hun Sen ordered police to arrest anyone accusing the government of using "fake" maps to cede national territory to neighboring Vietnam. The lawmaker says he found a map in the United States Library of Congress that he claims is different from the one Hun Sen and the government used to represent the final official say on the border issue. On April 12, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court officially charged Um Sam An with two criminal offenses over his accusations that the government had ceded land to Vietnam along its border. So Chantha, a political science professor who lectures at several Cambodian universities, said the court's stance on the lawmaker's case is not neutral. "In any cases relating to politics, we see that the court never gives a fair decision or trial," he said. So Chantha told RFA the caught-in-the-act clause in the constitution shouldn't apply because "what Um Sam An did, he did it in an attempt to take part in safeguarding Cambodia's sovereignty." UPDATE: 22/8/2016 Two land rights activists in Cambodia were convicted Monday of insulting a public official for their version of a "Black Monday" protest earlier this month. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea guilty and sentenced each of them to six days of imprisonment and an 80,000 riels (U.S. $20) fine - a verdict the activists and their supporters said is unjust. "It is very unjust for us as victims," Bov Sophea told RFA's Khmer Service in a telephone interview. "We only called on Prime Minister Hun Sen to solve the land issues. I believe the court's ruling against us is nothing short of an attempt to silence us." Bov Sophea and Tep Vanny were originally charged with the more serious offense of incitement to commit a felony for their protest, in which they buried headless mannequins in sand pits to represent the mindlessness of government officials. Under the new charge, Bov Sophea was released for time served, but Tep Vanny was still being held. The arrest and conviction failed to dampen Bov Sophea's enthusiasm as she vowed to continue with the protests. "Such action only adds fuel to the fire of our wrath," she said as she called on the government to free Tep Vanny. "Please release Tep Vanny immediately," she said. "It's not acceptable to imprison her." 'Who have we insulted?' Another land-rights activist, Song Srey Leap, told RFA the convictions are nonsensical because their protest wasn't aimed at a single individual. "Who have we insulted? We used the headless dummies to refer to the institutions, and not any particular individuals," she said. "Since they have treated us like that, it means the government colludes with the court officials to protect the corrupt and bad people who have mistreated us." An official with the Cambodian rights group Licadho said the government's only reason to pursue the women was because they are well known for their activities. "The court's ruling badly affects people's rights," said Lichado official Am Sam Ath. "Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea were arrested and detained because they are prominent activists." Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea gained prominence as activists fighting the Boeung Kak Lake land grab, when some 3,500 families were evicted from land surrounding the urban lake. The lake was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents- is a major cause of protests in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Laos. Black Monday began as an effort to win the release of four human rights workers and an election official who were jailed on charges widely seen as attempts to muzzle political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP. The protest, which gets its name from the color of the cloths that protestors wear, has become a more generalized form of demonstration. Hun Sen and other officials have condemned the protests as a "color revolution." Over the years, Hun Sen has repeatedly inveighed against "color revolutions," named after a series of popular movements that used passive resistance to topple governments in countries of the former Soviet Union during the 2000s. Update: Cambodia: Ongoing judicial harassment of land rights activist Ms. Tep Vanny The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia. New information: The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the ongoing judicial harassment of land rights activist Ms. Tep Vanny, who has been in pre-trial detention since August 2016 in relation to a protest in March 2013. According to the information received, on January 25, 2017, Supreme Court Judge Kim Sathavy announced that Ms. Tep Vanny's second appeal for bail had been denied, following a 45-minute hearing conducted by the Judge on January 18, 2017. Ms. Tep Vanny's trial before Phnom Penh Municipal Court is due to be held on February 3, 2017. The Court of Appeals had previously denied Ms. Vanny's request for bail on November 17, 2016. The Observatory recalls that Ms. Tep Vanny is being detained on charges of "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances" (Article 218 of the Criminal Code) for participating in a protest held by members of the Boeung Kak Lake community in March 2013 in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen's house in Phnom Penh. This case is just one of three cases which were re-activated in August 2016 while Ms. Tep Vanny was awaiting trial on separate charges stemming from her participation in a peaceful __�Black Monday' protest (see background information). If found guilty, Ms. Tep Vanny could face two to five years in prison. The Observatory strongly condemns Ms. Tep Vanny's ongoing arbitrary detention, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate human rights activities, and calls upon the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her. The Observatory further recalls that under Cambodia's Code of Criminal Procedure, pre-trial detention can only be ordered in "exceptional" circumstances. Until all charges are dropped against Ms. Tep Vanny, the Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to ensure that all judicial proceedings against her are conducted in full compliance with her right to a fair trial, as provided for under international law.