The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged four Paris Peace Agreement activists with incitement to disturb social security. They have been placed in pretrial detention after posting a video alleging that Cambodia “ceded northeast provinces to Vietnam”, the Interior Ministry said.

Its spokesperson Touch Sokhak said the four activists have been sent by the national police to pretrial detention following a court warrant by an investigating judge.

The warrant showed that Srun Srorn, Pheung Sophea, San Sith and Chak Ban Mony were charged under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code.

The warrant stated that the four defendants and accomplices broadcast a live video on Srun Srorn’s Facebook about the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Areas (CLV-DTA), making comments that “distorted” and “fabricated” information with ill intention to incite anger against the government leadership. “This act has caused serious damage to national security,” read the warrant on Wednesday.

“The Phnom Phnom court of first instance will strictly enforce the law for activities, characterized by slander, fabrication of information [and] conducted with malicious intent to incite to serious social unrest,” it said.

Srun Srorn and three others were arrested in Siem Reap province on Tuesday over their video where they allegedly accused Cambodian leaders for ceding territories of four northern provinces to Vietnam, under the CLV-DTA established in 1999.

Dozens of government officials from the ministry and provincial level, including the armed forces, issued a petition supporting former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is the current Senate president.

On Tuesday, Hun Sen went live on social media to clarify the “accusations” that Cambodia allegedly ceded those territories as part of CLV-DTA, and condemned any persons who distorted the issue.

Srun Srorn’s wife Soeng Sophina expressed concern about Srorn’s whereabouts since his arrest on Tuesday. “We’re worried as we don’t know where he is now?” she said.

“He was disseminating [information about] the law, it was not wrong […] because he only explained the positive and negative issues [of CLV-DTA],” Sophina said.

NGO rights group at Licadho operation director Am Sam Ath expressed concern that human rights defenders were being detained as United Nations Special Rapporteur Vitit Mutarbhorn was in Cambodia to review the human rights situation.

“We have been seen arresting them, [which] is a controversial reflection of what has happened,” Sam Ath said.