Uwazi

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court on Friday reduced the prison sentences of three jailed activists with the environmentalist group Mother Nature, theoretically making them eligible for release.

Long Kunthea, Thun Ratha and Phuon Keoraksmey were convicted in May and handed prison sentences of 18-20 months and fines of $1,000. They had been arrested in September 2020 and accused of incitement for planning a one-person march to advocate against the filling of Boeung Tamok lake in Phnom Penh. The group has been imprisoned since then and have since been hit with additional criminal charges of plotting.

The Appeal Court, which held a hearing for the three activists in late October, announced Friday morning a reduction in their sentences to 14 months, which would allow the trio to be freed on time served. Kunthea and Keoraksmey told a VOD reporter they expected to be released Friday evening, but they have not yet left prison as of publication of this article.

Their defense lawyer, Sam Sokong, said that while the activists have completed their reduced sentences for the earlier incitement charges, they’re now being held in pretrial detention for the plotting charges. Since the trio was already serving their prison sentences when those additional charges were filed, Sokong explained, the defense had not yet asked for bail but will do so next week.

If that request for bail is granted, the activists should be able to leave prison.

Despite their reduced sentences, the two activists said they were unhappy with the court’s decision to uphold their convictions and reasserting their innocence of any wrongdoing.

“We consider the court’s decision is still an injustice for us because we have not done anything wrong as we were charged,” Kunthea said.

Ratha said their advocacy was of national interest and he would consider appealing the guilty verdict after consulting with his lawyers.

“I am still strong because this is a matter for the whole country. I am not happy with the court’s decision because I have not committed [a crime] as I was charged,” Ratha said.

The three activists are also facing a plotting charge in a case that involves three other Mother Nature activists who were arrested in June. Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy are charged with plotting and insulting the king, while Ly Chandaravuth is charged only for plotting.

The verdict coincided with the Friday morning release of five imprisoned activists from the officially banned opposition CNRP, as well as the youth activist groups Khmer Student Intelligent League Association and Khmer Thavrak.

Two journalists in Kampot were arrested as residents protested for the release of their family members amid allegations that police had detained a 4-year-old child.

According to a provincial police report from Tuesday, four suspects were arrested on Sunday in Chhuk district’s Trapeang Phlaing commune for violence against the owner of a property and incitement, calling it a red-handed crime.

The following day, residents protested outside the provincial hall demanding the four residents’ release.

A live video report by Los Seng News said the residents did not understand the arrests, and wanted the newly appointed provincial governor — who has held public forums vowing to solve people’s disputes — to step in.

“Please, provincial governor, find justice for me. … Please help us,” one interviewed woman said in the video amid rain. The woman, Ken Phon, alleged that the four taken to the provincial police headquarters were Dy Chroeun, Meas Khchai, Tuy Taing, and Taing’s 4-year-old son.

The Los Seng News reporter reiterates in the video that the residents were concerned for the child.

Licadho provincial coordinator Pen Vuthea said Tuesday night that he understood that a child was in custody alongside his mother, and they were being kept separate from the others.

Commune police chief Haem Kny would not answer repeated questions about whether there was a child in detention.

District and provincial police and the provincial governor could not be reached on Tuesday to clarify the claim.

The police report says two journalists from Los Seng News, Ing Thoeun, 27, and Say Sophea, 24, were arrested after they “came to report in front of the provincial administration, criticizing the competent local authorities without communicating with authorities to ask about the arrests of the four on November 7, causing people to misunderstand and become enemies of the competent local authorities.”

The two journalists are accused of incitement to disturb social security and malicious denunciation, the report says.

Los Seng, publisher of Los Seng News, said he had reached out to provincial governor Mao Thonin about the arrests but the governor had not been receptive.

“They are just reporters and covered the news,” Seng said. “They broadcast based on people’s interviews.”

“It is in [the interviewees’] hands, so they can make any accusation that they want to, but we need to look into live [broadcasts] — whether it is suitable for an accusation of incitement or not.”

He said the authorities could correct reporters’ information and should not arrest them like criminals.

“When any report is a crime, where is the freedom of the journalist? They could use the Press Law, but instead they use their power against the journalist,” Seng said. “Their action is to break the spirit of the journalist from daring to cover news in Kampot province.”

Los Seng said in July he was pressured to stop reporting on a contentious land dispute involving the new Phnom Penh International Airport, with the Kandal Stung district governor claiming the news outlet did not have permission to make live broadcasts about the dispute.

Environmental activist Chhorn Phalla was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court on Wednesday for illegally clearing forests.

Phalla, a long-time activist, previously raised allegations that local officials were encroaching on community forests and that they beat him. Officials then filed a court complaint that Phalla was “causing trouble” at a public forum.

He was arrested on September 20 after being called into the police station to update the address on his identification card. The arrest was based on a February arrest warrant that said he was accused of clearing forests in Lumphat district in 2019 and 2020.

On Wednesday, Keo Pheakdey, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said Phalla had been sentenced by judge Chan Seiha to five years in jail under Article 62 of the Protected Areas Law.

Phalla was specifically found guilty of “clearing, encroaching, burning or clearing forest” to claim ownership, he said.

The crime is considered “fourth grade” and is punishable by five to 10 years in jail.

“He has the right to appeal according to the law,” Pheakdey said.

Phalla’s defense lawyer Sam Titseyha said the conviction was an injustice.

“It is very unfair for my client, because Chhorn Phalla is an activist helping to protect the forests, forestry land and the community, which is in the common interest,” he said. “He has been charged, while the loggers have been acquitted.”

Titseyha added that he was preparing to appeal.

“I have already prepared an application to file a complaint to the Court of Appeal,” he said. “For now, I am just waiting for what the Court of Appeal will do next.”

A representative of 241 families involved in a land dispute with a prominent developer in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district was arrested and sent to Prey Sar Prison on charges of trespassing and illegally destroying property.

The families have been locked in a dispute over 58 hectares for decades: initially with late tycoon Suy Sophan’s Phanimex, and in the past two years with developer Borey Peng Huoth.

They say they have farmed the area since the 1980s, and last month filed a complaint to the Land Management Ministry saying the gated-housing developer had begun filling in the disputed wetlands.

Po Rorn, 54, was taken away by officers in civilian clothes around 7 a.m. Friday while he was at a cafe near his house in Prek Thmey commune, said Chheun Phalla, another representative of the disputants.

Rorn was first taken to the Interior Ministry, then to the municipal court around around 3 p.m., and finally sent to Prey Sar Prison after about an hour of questioning, Phalla said.

“They arrested our representative, so almost everyone is afraid. We don’t know how to protest or what we can do. [We are] always scared and concerned of our own safety,” he said.

Rorn had been accused of trespassing and destroying property — the same charges as previously brought by tycoon Sophan when she was still alive in 2016, Phalla said.

Another representative for the families, Mao Sophearith, who was at the court questioning on Friday, said the accusations were related to the old dispute with Phanimex.

Chbar Ampov district police chief Mao Soeuth confirmed the arrest, but said he had no further details. “I do not know either. I implemented an arrest warrant with the criminal department.”

Rorn’s wife Nhev Savath, 42, said her husband farmed more than 0.16 hectares of land that he inherited from his parents.

Savath denied that her husband could have been involved in any recent property damage, as his health condition was not good and he had been staying at home.

She was concerned about her husband’s high blood pressure and diabetes, which required regular medication and had recently deteriorated, making it hard for him to walk.

“It’s an injustice. No warrant before arresting — they came to arrest and took him,” Savath said. “I’ve worried until my legs and my hands are weak, and I can’t do anything.”

Sou Sokchea, director of the Land Management Ministry’s inspections and complaints department, said he had helped mediate the 58-hectare dispute in 2019, but after two meetings the two sides failed to reach any agreement. He decided to let the parties settle the matter bilaterally or through the courts, he said.

“It had been silent until I heard the news,” Sokchea said.

The families have shown a Council of Ministers proclamation from February 2017 to suspend registrations and transfers of land ownership in the area until the disputes are resolved. But they claim Phanimex transferred its claims to the land to Borey Peng Huoth anyway two years ago.

The new developer began pouring sand into the area in early September, and showed residents land titles signed by the municipal administration in March, they have said.

A lawyer for Phanimex said he no longer represented the company since Sophan’s death, while a Borey Peng Huoth representative involved in sandfilling declined to be named.

Authorities pushed women protesters to the ground and confiscated banners from a group of around 20 demonstrators who gathered in front of the French Embassy this morning. Police and para-police outnumbered demonstrators and used excessive force to disrupt the protesters from holding banners and speaking to the media.

The group of women protesters, often called the “Friday Women”, have for months gathered in front of various embassies and state institutions to call for the release of their imprisoned family members, who are former members or officials in the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved by Cambodian courts in November 2017. They have previously been harassed and pushed by security forces during peaceful demonstrations. Three of the demonstrators entered the French Embassy to deliver their petition, including Prum Chantha, the mother of a detained 16-year-old with autism spectrum disorder. Her son was arrested in June 2021 for incitement and insult of public officials, while her husband Kak Komphear, a former CNRP official, has been in jail since June 2020 on charges of conspiracy and incitement. The other petitioners were Seng Chan Thon, whose husband Sun Thun was a former CNRP activist, high school teacher and local union leader and was arrested in June 2020; and Out Chanthy, whose husband Yoem Sareth was a former elected commune councilor in Phnom Penh for the CNRP and was arrested in March 2020.

More than 50 political activists and former members of the opposition are currently imprisoned, while more than a hundred have been slapped with politically motivated charges in recent years.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court today sentenced 10 currently detained political, social and youth activists to 20 months in prison and fined them 2 million riel each ($500) over charges of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They each must serve from 14 to 15 months in prison, with the remainder of their sentences suspended. The 10 activists, already detained for over one year, are each due to be released from prison in November 2021, however they were placed under probation for two additional years, requiring them to alert the court if they move, change jobs or want to leave the country, among other conditions. Four additional individuals were also sentenced in absentia.

The sentenced social and youth activists, many of whom were part of the Khmer Thavrak movement, include Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Mean Prummony, Koet Saray, Tha Lavy, Moung Sopheak, and Eng Malai. Daravy and Vannak were each sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while the others must serve 14 months. They were arrested in August and September 2020 in relation to their peaceful gatherings around the court to call for the release of jailed union leader Rong Chhun, who remains in prison after being convicted of incitement on 18 August 2021.

The trial mostly consisted of the activists being asked if they had obtained prior permission to gather, and if they had someone from outside the country encouraging or paying them to engage in the peaceful calls for Rong Chhun’s release. In their closing statements, many of the activists noted that they had only engaged in peaceful demonstrations, that the conditions in Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons were difficult, and that the trial lacked justice.

Three other detained individuals - Chum Puthy, Chhuo Pheng, and Kong Sam An - were also charged in the same case file and sentenced. The three are former activists or members of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Chum Puthy and Chhuo Pheng must each serve 15 months in prison, while Kong Sam An will serve 14 months. In addition, four individuals were charged in absentia, including Seng Meng Bunrong, Ho Vann, Ou Chanrith, and Kong Saphea. Meng Bunrong was found guilty of incitement, while the three others were found guilty of instigating incitement under Articles 28, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They were each sentenced to two years in prison, as well as handed fines of 4 million riel each ($1,000). Charges against Hong Lim were dropped. Arrest warrants have been issued for the four who were convicted in absentia.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the arrest of a former monk and forestry activist living in exile who shared a disparaging poem about the country’s strongman on social media, RFA has learned.

Voeun Veasna currently resides in neighboring Thailand. A Khmer Times report on Oct. 11 described him as a 35-year-old activist affiliated with the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

On Oct. 9, Voeun Veasna used his Facebook account under the name Kranhoung Preylang to post a poem titled ‘Hun Sen is a Traitor’ on the prime minister’s own Facebook page. The poem criticized Sen for amending Cambodia’s constitution, thereby “destroying the country.”

The poem also accused Hun Sen of allowing Cambodia’s forests to be destroyed during his rule.

Hun Sen quickly responded to Voeun Veasna’s poem, calling it an expression of “extremist theory,” and called for his arrest, according to the Khmer Times report.

“Now there are extremist rebels left that need to be eliminated for peace to be maintained,” the report quoted Hun Sen as saying.

Hun Sen said that he hoped the police would track Voeun Veasna down, whether he was inside or outside the country.

Speaking from exile in Thailand, Voeun Veasna told RFA’s Khmer Service that his opinion on Hun Sen remains unchanged.

“I commented on Hun Sen’s Facebook because ever since I was born, I have not seen Hun Sen do anything to benefit his country and his people,” he said.

“Hun Sen has looked the other way as his powerful friends… stole land from the people. People are crying throughout the country, but Hun Sen has ignored them.”

The former monk said that his poem reveals the truth of Hun Sen’s leadership, andthat he plans to continue speaking out against the strongman.

“I am concerned about my security, but I don’t know what to do when this regime likes bloodshed,” he said.

Even though Hun Sen ordered his arrest this week, Voeun Veasna said that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had already charged him with incitement in May and ordered his arrest. He said he would be arrested if he were to return to Cambodia.

Hun Sen, as a public figure, is not immune from criticism, and the government’s role should be to educate the public rather than punish them for their political opinions, Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesperson for the local ADHOC NGO told RFA.

“Our country is not open to criticism and has taken many actions against expression,” he said.

Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after arresting its president Kem Sokha over an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Scores of supporters of the group have since been incarcerated, awaiting a tortuous legal process made slower by COVID-19 restrictions.

The move came amid a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the country’s political opposition, independent media, and NGOs that allowed the CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union.

An anti-logging activist was on Tuesday convicted of assault against an alleged timber trader, as rights groups linked the verdict to ongoing harassment and intimidation against environmentalists in the country.

The Kampong Thom Provincial Court sentenced Chan Thoeun, who is in hiding, to two years’ imprisonment, but suspended the sentence, according to his lawyer Sam Sokong.

Sokong said the judge had also downgraded the charge from attempted murder to intentional violence with aggravating circumstances.

Thoeun has previously said that he saw a timber trader hauling timber from a community forest in July last year, but was threatened at knifepoint when he pulled out his phone to capture footage, alleging that he was the victim, not the aggressor.

Sokong said that although the two-year sentence was suspended, he considered the court’s decision unfair because his client was the victim. “We see that [the court] has not yet been given justice to the client,” he said.

Thoeun, who is a member of the Prey Lang Community Network in Kampong Thom province, said he would appeal the conviction.

“It is an injustice against me. When it comes to many huge crimes of timber [trafficking], they do not prosecute them. But they sue me and accuse me, and it is unjust,” he said. “I do not accept it because I did not do anything wrong and they came to take my phone and prosecuted me. I will appeal to the Appeal Court. The decision is unacceptable since I am a victim.”

Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said members of the Prey Lang Community Network have been facing harassment as well as physical and legal threats. Environmentalists should not be facing such actions under a democracy, she said.

“I hope that the government should reconsider its commitment to the protection of natural resources, and that commitment can only be achieved with the participation of local communities,” Sopheap said. “As long as local communities that are active in protecting the environment remain under threat, it contradicts the government’s claimed commitment.”

The network, which works to protect the massive Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, has been banned from conducting patrols since last year. Environmentalists have been arrested in the protected area, and the U.S. this year pulled funding to the government for Prey Lang-related projects, citing continued logging, failure to prosecute timber traders and silencing of environmentalists. Other environmentalists have also been jailed and charged with plotting against the government.

Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, said Thoeun should never have been charged or tried, and his conviction fit a pattern of silencing and intimidating environmental activists in Prey Lang and across Cambodia.

“Chan Thoeun and the PLCN have been standing up against powerful illegal logging interests for years,” Hah said. “They have defended the Prey Lang forest while the Cambodian authorities have turned a blind eye to the rampant destruction of this vital ecosystem, which is an essential part of the culture of indigenous Kuy communities.”

A journalist is being questioned by police after Defense Minister Tea Banh, head of the CPP working group for Koh Kong, apparently instructed local officials about taking legal action and countering the journalist’s criticism of a deputy governor.

Youn Chhiv, who runs the Koh Kong Hot News website, was purportedly part of the land dispute himself while reporting that authorities were evicting people from state land they had farmed for years.

In his reports, Chhiv said authorities were violating Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call last year to grant land titles to ordinary people who had long-standing claims on state land.

An audio recording, shared with VOD, appears to show Defense Minister Banh instructing Koh Kong officials to take action against Chhiv. Several government-aligned media outlets have reported on Banh’s instructions, including some that quoted from the recording. Koh Kong provincial information department director Mom Malika said the recording could have been shared in a group with provincial officials, but declined to elaborate. Banh could not be reached for comment.

Banh’s purported voice in the recording says he told provincial governor Mithona Phouthorng to pursue a lawsuit against Chhiv.

“Just a moment ago I told Mithona to check and to discuss with the provincial law expert to file a lawsuit against him. He twisted the truth and promoted bad ideas, and we need to clarify it,” it says. “We have to make urgent reports to send to all the places about the administration’s actions against encroachers of land.”

He would call on Fresh News staffers to help spread information that would correct Chhiv’s video reports, it adds.

“In there, there is a Fresh News representative, and [we will] send it to him to help disseminate that the video twisted the truth,” the recording says. “Take action quickly, and should not be silent, and they will disseminate it all over the place. It has caused a mess and issues, destroying reputations. [We’re] discussing it with a legal expert and handling it.”

Other media would also be enlisted to help, it says.

“[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. “All media should publish it in advance, and [then] make a written letter and consult with the legal expert to send the case in time. [We] should not allow this. It is unacceptable.”

Chhiv had made a mistake when he “attacked the administration’s measures,” it says.

“He has violated and attacked the administration’s measures, and if we do not handle this carefully, we cannot control the state, and the state needs to take action against the violator through administrative measures,” it says, noting that villagers were told to leave but failed to follow instructions.

In one of Chhiv’s videos, he interviews three villagers who say they came to live on the land, in Botom Sakor district, in 2007. They say authorities have this year been destroying their cashew trees, sugarcane and cassava plants to try to evict them without compensation. About 130 officers from police, military police and local administrations had come to clear their land, they say.

“People survive through their farmland, but now they have cleared it all. So where can people plant their crops and rice?” one villager asks, pleading for help from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defense Minister Banh.

“Our authorities have not followed samdech’s remarks. They might know that samdech would lose [power] one day, so they do this and they do not follow samdech,” the villager says in the video. “They do not look after the people and they only destroy people.”

Chhiv says in the video that villagers come to his office and ask for his help, telling him they’ve been threatened with arrest. “Do they not know where the provincial governor is?” he asks.

He also mentions sub-decrees that have privatized over 100,000 hectares of Koh Kong parks, ostensibly to give titles to villagers using the land. He asks why the villagers are not being given titles, but being evicted instead.

In one Facebook post, Chhiv directly criticizes deputy governor Sok Sothy, saying the official is breaking people’s hearts.

Botum Sakor district police chief Sok Phon said on Tuesday afternoon that Chhiv had come in that day for questioning at the police station.

“Our police, with the deputy provincial chief, are in the process of questioning. … We have questioned him for about four hours, and we do not know yet [whether to send him to court]. Wait until the work has finished,” Phon said.

The provincial administration, meanwhile, issued a statement on Sunday saying Chhiv had disseminated “baseless information that is not true.”

The statement highlights one video, “Koh Kong Provincial Deputy Governor Sok Sothy Is Cruel and Abuses Citizens.”

“The publication of this information is intended to tarnish the reputation of Mr. Sok Sothy, Koh Kong deputy governor, and hurts the reputation of the provincial administration, confuses the public and causes confusion and social unrest,” the statement says.

It says authorities went to Thma Sar commune on September 19 after issuing two prior warnings to people who had illegally encroached on state land and built huts. Authorities were “implementing administrative measures” against illegal encroachment, it says.

“Among those encroachers, there is Youn Chhiv, the journalist, the person who tried to disseminate the distorted truth,” the statement says, requesting all journalists to respect the law.

Sothy, the deputy governor criticized by Chhiv, said on Monday that he had submitted a complaint to provincial police and the case was now in their hands.

“The land is a national sanctuary … when he published such distortions of the truth like this — it damages reputations, and most importantly the public misunderstands, especially people who live outside and do not know that the land is a national sanctuary.”

Sok Sovan, a provincial reporter in Koh Kong, said that as far as he knew, Chhiv had a cashew farm on the land in question.

But the heavy-handed response from authorities was chilling, he said.

“It impacts other journalists. As you know, when a journalist posts on Facebook, they can charge [us] saying it is a red-handed crime,” Sovan said. “If the journalist published something wrong, they should pursue [the case] through the Press Law.”

“Journalists face high risks because in our world, publishing some wrong information often happens,” he added. “It’s a challenge when they file a case to court and we face imprisonment.”

Youn Chhiv, journalist and owner of website Koh Kong Hot News, was sentenced to a years imprisonment on September 30 for incitement under Cambodia’s Criminal Code, after reporting on a government land dispute. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) condemn the imprisonment and intimidation of Youn Chhiv under the Criminal Code and call for the immediate cessation of all charges against him.

The journalist was charged with incitement to cause a felony over publishing alleged misinformation about a land dispute at Botum Sakor National Park. After two days of police questioning without a lawyer, the Chhiv was sentenced to one year in prison under Cambodia’s Criminal Code.

Chhiv claimed that authorities were unlawfully evicting citizens from land they had both farmed and inhabited for years, in direct contravention of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call late last year to grant land titles to those who had long-standing claims on state land. According to Vey Pherom, deputy prosecutor at the provincial court in Koh Kong, Chhiv admitted that the above claims were false.

In a leaked audio recording, a voice, identified as Defence Minister Tea Banh, can be heard instructing Koh Kong officials and state media to act against Chhiv. “[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. There have been multiple government-aligned media outlets that have reported on Bahn’s instructions, condemning Chhiv’s reports as baseless.

Provincial reporter in Koh Kong, Sok Savan said that the case had been kept extremely confidential, and only family members were admitted into the courtroom. Savan indicated that authorities ought to have used the Press Law, not the Criminal Code, or allowed Chhiv to apologise publicly and remove the videos. “This case is irregular and inappropriate. In a democratic country, when a journalist covers the news for the public interest and society, they should not be punished or imprisoned,” Savan said.

Environmentalist Chhorn Phalla has been arrested by Ratanakiri police after they called him in to update the address on his identification card, his lawyer said.

An arrest warrant against Phalla had been issued in February for allegedly clearing forest land for ownership, but both his lawyer and wife said he had been called in for an administrative update.

Phalla, 42, has previously told VOD that he has been involved in protecting forests since 2016, and since 2017 he has filed eight lawsuits against local officials and villagers he accuses of being involved in encroaching on community forests. He has said that authorities have taken no action on any of his complaints.

In July last year, he was beaten by a group of people at a public forum where he questioned how authorities were allowing forestry crimes to happen under their jurisdictions, he has said. Authorities accused him of disrupting the forum, then stood and watched as people beat him, he has alleged.

Kham Salong, Phalla’s wife, said her husband was arrested at Lumphat district’s Seda commune police station at 11:22 a.m. on Monday after the couple arrived to update the address on their ID cards.

“I feel really sad,” Salong said. “They previously beat him up, and now they come to arrest him. I want to ask the court to release my husband. He is not guilty of anything.”

Phalla’s lawyer, Sam Tith Seiha, said his client had been asked to go to the police station to update his ID, and that he would try to speak to him in prison.

Keo Pheadey, deputy prosecutor and spokesman for the Ratanakiri Provincial Court, could not be reached.

Ny Sokha, president of rights group Adhoc, said authorities must be clear before arresting anyone, and said he had doubts about the forestry charges against him.

“We ask the Ratanakiri Provincial Court to consider dropping or revoking the arrest warrant for Chhorn Phalla and release him, do not accuse him further and release him, do not detain him because he did not commit a crime like the one in the lawsuit or the charges.”

Seng Sary. who had clarified that he does not support forming a government in exile but merely laid out hypothetical conditions for one, told RFA’s Khmer Service Monday it was a good sign that Hun Sen is listening to the opinions of analysts and intellectuals, but he did not feel completely safe yet.

“I have not seen the court drop my case yet, so it is difficult for me to decide whether I should return to Cambodia, because it has to do with my safety,” Seng Sary said.

“I hope I can get my charges dropped soon,” he said.

Seng Sary said he was fortunate to be in Thailand when Hun Sen ordered his arrest. Otherwise, he would never have been able to escape or explain to Hun Sen the meaning of his analysis.

“I hope that in the future, the head of government will more carefully consider posts on social media… Let the government have a high understanding of contradictory views or political views that people want express.”

Political analyst Kim Sok, who lives in exile in Finland, said that Seng Sary is right to remain in Thailand and act with caution about anything Hun Sen says.

“He did request that the court revoke Seng Sary’s arrest warrant, but who knows? When Seng Sary returns to Cambodia and if he is arrested, Hun Sen could say he only made the request to cancel the arrest order, but it is up to the court because the court is independent. So be careful with this game,” Kim Sok said.

RFA was unable to reach Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin for comment on Hun Sen's stance. The spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Plang Sophal was also not available.

Chak Sopheap, the Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, welcomed the suspension of the arrest warrant and urged the government to be more open to intellectuals and political analysts.

“There must be a guarantee of full freedom of expression, and there should be no indictment or arrest just because citizens are expressing their opinions,” she said.

Some Facebook users wrote in support of Hun Sen’s change of heart, while others pointed out that the Cambodian leader has broken promises to activists in exile, saying they could return to the country without fear of arrest, but arresting them anyway.

The exchange with Seng Sary came a little than a week after Hun Sen Hun Sen crashed a Zoom strategy session of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which Hun Sen had banned in 2017.

“I wanted to send a clear message to the rebels that there are people of Hun Sen everywhere,” the prime minister said of his intervention in the Zoom call.

A reporter for Voice of Democracy said he was harassed by authorities on Saturday while covering a land dispute between a new airport project and affected villagers in Kandal Stung district.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said a second journalist was warned by villagers to stay away because police were threatening to arrest him.

Pok Kheuy, who is an intern at VOD, told CamboJA that he went to cover a press conference held by residents involved in a land dispute over the new Phnom Penh Airport in Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, on Saturday.

“When I interviewed the people, authorities dressed in civilian clothes took pictures of me and my motorbike,” he said. “After I finished my interviews, I drove my motorbike back to Phnom Penh and about 5 minutes later, I noticed that two people followed behind me.”

Kheuy said as he drove, five uniformed police in the street tried pulling him over but he continued driving.

“They still followed and said they were police and asked me to stop and talk to them, but I didn’t stop, and when I refused to stop, they shouted at me calling me ‘thief’,” he said.

Kheuy said he was frightened for his safety and considered it a threat against the freedom of press.

“I would like to express the sorrow that authorities are abusing the existing law on the press that ensures the safety for journalists and that the journalists have the right to report and cover news anywhere that they are not banned from,” he said. “But the authorities instead continue to restrict, and I think it is a bad thing and is persecuting journalists’ jobs.”

Kandal Stung district governor, Ouch Sao Voeun, said he did not know of the case. However, he said authorities in his area never ban journalists from covering news.

“I don’t know about this but if they are just covering news, nobody banned them, they can cover the news wherever they are allowed,” he said.

Kandal Provincial police chief, Chhoeun Sochet hung up the phone when a CamboJA reporter asked about the incident.

Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said he did not know about the issue and needed to check with the provincial information department first.

However, he said, in general, journalists are not allowed to enter places where the authorities are in operation.

“Those who have no obligation [to be there] including the journalists are not allowed to enter the place because it may cause an obstacle and obstruct the authority’s operation and also cause danger for authorities as well,” he said. “And authorities have the right not to allow journalists to enter.”

In July, the Ministry of Information gave local authorities the green light to take legal action against journalists that they deem to be unprofessional or spreading false information that obstructs law enforcement.

The ministry made its decision after Kandal provincial authorities wrote to the ministry in June asking it to take legal action against a number of journalists who live streamed a protest against the new airport development.

Luos Seng, the owner of online news station LSN News TV and one of the journalists targeted by provincial authorities, had been warned by authorities after live streaming the protest.

He told CamboJA on Monday that he did not cover the press conference on Saturday because villagers called him and told him not to come or he would be arrested.

A villager told CamboJA that the authorities had been deployed along the streets outside of the press conference. He said authorities chased after Kheuy while about 10 villagers also followed behind to help him in case he was arrested by authorities.

CamboJA Executive Director, Nop Vy said in a statement on Monday that the act represented a serious threat against a journalist’s rights.

“Intimidation of journalists and threats through various forms seriously affects press freedom, the state of freedom of expression in Cambodia, and both journalists’ and the public’s right to information.”

CamboJA has recorded 38 cases of harassment against 56 journalists since the start of the year.

Claiming compensation offers have been too low, for three years now hundreds of families have been locked in disputes over the $1.5 billion airport project developed by Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp (OCIC), which is owned by the well-connected Oknha Pung Kheav Se.

On September 1, the company cut off village roads, making it difficult for residents to access farmland. The Kandal provincial administration issued a statement on September 3, stating that road closures and road blocks are to drain water from the runway construction site.

However, villager Tuon Vannak, who owns 0.40 hectare of land directly affected by the runway project said: “We feel that the authorities have cut off roads to encroach on people’s land because people will not be able to access their land.”

Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association calls on authorities with clear measures against officials who harass and obstruct the work of journalists.

Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 30 villagers during a violent roundup of land protesters in Kandal province where they were protesting against an airport being built by a company owned by a tycoon with ties to the country’s autocratic leader, provincial police and villagers said.

The land at Kampong Talong village in Kandal’s Beung Khchang commune was taken three years ago by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC), a private Cambodian firm, for construction of the U.S. $1.5 billion airport project.

Around 330 families living on the disputed land refused compensation for their fields, saying the amounts offered in payment by the firm were too low.

Police beat the protesters who rallied Sunday, and 31 were arrested for alleged involvement in violence against authorities during the demonstration.

The land dispute between 330 families and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) owned by Neak Oknha (honorific) Pung Khieu Se, an affluent business tycoon close to Prime Minister Hun Sen led to authorities to make the arrests.

Villager Nai Phon, who was monitoring the situation, said that authorities arrested three of his family members — his wife, Khim Chetra, and sisters Nay Phea and Nay Phol, and that police were still searching for and arresting other villagers.

“As a land grab victim, it has been three years since I begged the head of government to help solve this land dispute by giving us fair compensation so that we can accept it, Nai Phon said.

“And now we do not dare to claim the market price. We can accept a reasonable price to end the confrontation and have all the detainees released.”

RFA could not reach Kandal’s police commissioner, Chhoeun Socheth, for comment.

‘It is not a good way’

Am Sam Ath, deputy director of monitoring at Cambodian human rights group Licadho, said that this is the first time in the history of land disputes in Cambodia that authorities have arrested such a large number of people.

“We still insist on not choosing that way, and it is not a good way,” said Am Sam Ath, who condemned the resort to mass arrests.

“First, it affects both sides and draws more criticism over the issue of the land dispute as well as other allegations,” he said. “And if the people are imprisoned, their suffering will be doubled. This means that their families will face more problems.”

This arrest and violent crackdown erupted Sept. 12 after hundreds of authorities prevented farmers from accessing the land. They set fire to the rubbish in front of the security barricades used by local police and military police to block the road to their farmland now under the control of OCIC.

In response, Kandal Provincial Hall accused residents of causing acts of violence involving the use of sticks, stones, rubber bullets, and petrol bombs that injured 13 police officers.

Authorities called on residents to stop what they said were illegal activities and return to efforts to resolve the land dispute peacefully.

Acting on behalf of CIOC, Kandal provincial authorities have offered villagers U.S. $8 per square meter for their land, but villagers say that is much lower than the U.S. $70-80 per square meter estimated market price.

Van Sophat, land monitoring officer for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, previously told RFA that OCIC had failed to conduct a proper assessment of their project’s environmental impact or to consult Kampong Talong villagers on the proposed development.

The villagers hold title to their land and deserve justice and fair compensation, he said.

Hundreds of police officers blocked villagers on Sept. 7 from visiting rice fields seized to build an airport, though no injuries were reported.

Villagers stopped cultivating their land three years ago, but had to start farming again because business shutdowns caused by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia have left them without other ways to survive, a villager told RFA in an earlier report.

A citizen journalist was detained on Monday and later released after filming a police station and preparing to interview family members of 30 Kandal villagers arrested in a land dispute over Phnom Penh’s new international airport.

Chray Nim, who is also a land activist, said she was working as a citizen journalist for the community, though she would not elaborate on where she publishes her reports.

The airport development, in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district, has in recent months become more aggressive about clearing the land of villagers, who are refusing the compensation on offer to relocate.

Villagers have tried to block roads in protest, while police and military police have increased their presence to stop them.

On Sunday, a confrontation between villagers and authorities turned violent, with villagers allegedly hurling rocks at officers before 30 were arrested.

Amid a downpour outside the Kandal Provincial Court on Monday afternoon, a man said he was there with his wife because their 22-year-old daughter, a garment factory worker, was arrested on Sunday. He added that “I will be arrested” if he was named in publication.

“I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to burst out crying,” the man said of the night after his daughter’s arrest. “It’s our land and we’ve been jailed for our land.”

The villagers were angry, he said. But he said he was also annoyed at the children who had hurled rocks at officers. “They couldn’t control their emotions,” he said. “The young were aggressive, and the older people got arrested.”

Two women said they had come from Phnom Penh after their 55-year-old mother was arrested. “I was very upset when I learned that she was arrested, and they prevented us from seeing her,” one of the women said, declining to be named. The two had been outside the police station since 7 a.m., she said.

Another woman said her mother, who was over 60 years old, was also arrested. “I don’t want to talk much because I don’t want to get in trouble,” she said, standing with a full bag of cooked rice and other food she hoped she could give to her mother.

The first man added, speaking to reporters: “I’m worried about you too.”

Chray Nim, 41, was arrested around 11 a.m. outside the police station, according to her daughter Reaksa Reasey. Reasey said she had come with her mother, and saw six officers drag her into the compound.

Nim was filming the police station’s gate as a citizen journalist, Reasey said.

Reasey was also questioned for an hour before being released, she said.

“They questioned where my mother came from and what she does. I told them that I don’t know because I’m just a student,” Reasey said. “I was very, very scared seeing her in handcuffs.”

In the afternoon, a guard at the police station also told VOD: “No pictures. If you continue to take them, I’ll get someone to take you.”

Nim was released in the evening. Nim told VOD after her release that she had only started filming, had not interviewed anyone yet, and had not broadcast live. She was questioned about who she worked for and whether she had sought permission to film. She would only say that she was a “community citizen journalist” and not where her reports were published.

“They asked whether I had asked permission from them or not and I told them that I go to take videos everywhere and I have never asked permission,” she said. “Anywhere people protest we go to cover it.”

“This is a threat and silences the freedoms and rights of independent citizen journalists,” Nim added.

Information Ministry broadcasting director Phos Sovan said he did not have clear information yet about Monday’s detention, and whether it was only for taking video.

“When we write a narrative, it can be too far from the truth, and sometimes the authorities think that it will incite or cause more violence … so they use their mechanism toward journalists who broadcast live,” Sovan said.

There were some challenges regarding citizen journalists not following ethics, he added. “The new group that we call citizen journalists has a lot of challenges,” Sovan said. “We have seen some challenges for online media occurring recently.”

Many small news outlets have appeared on Facebook in recent years — and several have faced trouble with the law over their video broadcasts.

Nim began as a land and women’s rights activist in 2012 after facing problems with her own land near the current Phnom Penh International Airport, according to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and Transparency International.

Kandal officials have been heavy-handed in dealing with journalists covering the dispute. A VOD reporter was followed by two undercover police officers back to Phnom Penh after covering the story and another social media broadcaster was threatened and asked to stop covering the protest.

Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said Nim was a member of the association, though she had never done work for it.

The association would be offering her support as a member, he said.

“Citizens who can produce stories like articles and videos and photos are called citizen journalists. We have been working to build their capacity and ethics,” Vy added. “Some citizen journalists have good knowledge and can write stories. We encourage them and we can sign contracts with them.”

Many journalists in Cambodia were not formally trained, but have gained experience through working in newsrooms and with other journalists. “It is the same for citizen journalists. They are normal people, but they start working as journalists, then they learn and improve to be professional journalists,” he said.

Vy added that based on information he had, Nim had only been taking video. “I think this is part of people’s freedoms, including journalists’ freedoms,” he said, adding that authorities should respect those freedoms. “They have no weapons. They only have smartphones to interview and take photos and videos.”

Sokunthea Chhan, media development director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media — VOD’s parent organization — said Nim was not a citizen journalist for CCIM. But CCIM would be providing a lawyer to support her, Chhan said.

CCIM, however, did have citizen journalists in the disputed airport area, and they were facing threats from police and local authorities, she said.

“CCIM supports CJs and professional journalists when they face challenges by providing legal support and safe houses if they need,” she said. “CJs are just gathering [information about] issues happening at the conflict area. The authorities should open the space for CJs and all journalists to exercise their rights freely.”

Kandal provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet could not be reached. Pung Khiev Se, chairman of OCIC, which is developing the airport in a joint venture with the civil aviation authority, has not responded to questions.

A group of residents in Oddar Meanchey’s Samraong city say they fear arrest and losing their land after the provincial court summoned 11 of them for questioning early next month over a land dispute.

The summonses come as four villagers were arrested on the land on Tuesday, only to be released that evening after a protest by what villagers said was hundreds of supporters. The land in question is said to have formerly been part of Angkor Sugar, a notorious site of alleged human rights violations that has led to a class-action lawsuit in Thailand.

May Pek, a resident of Konkriel commune, said 1,149 hectares of land were claimed by 293 families in five villages in both Konkriel and Samraong commune.

Pek said the residents had used the land for decades until 2007, when a sugarcane company received a government license for the land and evicted residents without compensation. But the company closed down in 2015, and people moved back on the land, he said.

Since the beginning of this year, a new company, San Heang, was claiming the land, he said.

He and 10 other residents had been summoned to appear at the court on September 1 and 2 over accusations that they falsified documents and encroached on the company’s land, Pek said. They would appear as they had not committed any wrongdoing, he said.

“My people, they support me. When I go in for questioning, they will come too because they are afraid,” Pek said. “I’m worried. It’s not that I’m not worried, but at this stage, if they want to arrest us, we don’t know what to do. But we also have to struggle — if we can’t struggle [and] just bear with it…”

Another summoned resident, Rath Sopheap, said it was not the first incident with San Heang. On Tuesday, a provincial forestry administration official and about 10 armed officers, including some from the company, arrested four farmers building huts in their rice fields, Sopheap said.

Sopheap said there were no arrest warrants, and the four farmers were held at the provincial forestry administration office as hundreds of villagers gathered outside in protest. They were released around 8 p.m.

Authorities tried to stop the people from protesting and taking photos, and confiscated three phones, she said.

“They kicked once, and put their feet while a person was on the ground, shoved into the ground and tied their hands behind their back,” she said. “They acted like this. It was so extreme against the people.”

Oddar Meanchey provincial forestry administration director Im Sao Varith said he had ordered the four arrests because the farmers had illegally encroached on state land, but denied that authorities had used guns to intimidate residents.

He declined to say whether the administration had brought a lawsuit against the 11 people summoned to court.

“We arrested them because they went to encroach on state land, invading state private land with a solid land title,” Sao Varith said.

Oddar Meanchey provincial governor Pen Kosal said he had already established a committee to investigate the dispute between San Heang and villagers. He had some results, and authorities planned to meet and make a decision soon, Kosal said.

“I organized a committee to check what the people have to rely on, and what the company has to rely on. The important thing is what evidence or proof they have so we can solve it,” he said.

San Heang could not be reached for comment. An Agriculture Ministry document dated July 13 gives San Heang a permit to clear forests and harvest byproducts on 1,500 hectares. According to OpenCorporates, the company was registered last year and has since changed its name to San Heang (Kampuchea) Aharon Niharon.

Adhoc official Srey Naren said the land in question formerly belonged to Angkor Sugar. Angkor Sugar was one of three sugar plantations in Cambodia under Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol, which is facing a class-action lawsuit from Cambodian farmers. Farmers’ homes were burned and razed, allegedly with the involvement of military forces hired by the plantation. Mitr Phol has said that it was not a participant.

Two Svay Rieng land dispute representatives, previously fined $1,000 each under Covid-19 regulations for gathering people to rally, have now been charged for obstructing the enforcement of health measures and face up to three years in jail, according to a rights group.

En Soth and Yous Sophorn, representing families seeking compensation for land the Water Resources Ministry wants to turn into a reservoir, were summoned by provincial police on Friday and detained overnight, according to Soth’s husband, Mom Kosal.

They were then sent to the provincial court for questioning on Saturday, Kosal said.

Licadho spokesperson Am Sam Ath said they had since been charged under articles 10 and 11 of the Covid-19 Law. Infringement of administrative measures can be fined up to 5 million riel, or about $1,250, and obstruction of enforcement up to 10 million riel, or close to $2,500, and punished by up to three years in jail.

“This is a threat against the community for protesting, and secondly this move impacts other communities from protesting. If they dare to protest, they could face the same charges,” Sam Ath said.

Earlier this month, Soth and Sophorn were fined $1,000 each for posting photos of protesters holding up banners, as authorities deemed the rally a violation of Covid-19 measures.

Kosal, Soth’s husband, said the deadline for paying the fine was Monday, and Soth had planned to hand over the money on Saturday.

Provincial police chief Koeng Khorn would only say that the two land disputants had committed wrongdoing and police had taken action. “If you know, why do you keep asking?” Khorn said when asked about the case.

Provincial court spokespeople could not be reached on Monday about the land dispute, in Svay Chrum district’s Chhoeuteal commune.

Rong Chhun, a long-time activist and unionist, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in jail at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and he and two other defendants were ordered to pay a total 400 million riel, or nearly $100,000, in damages to Cambodia’s border committee.

Chhun was arrested at the end of July last year after issuing a statement that Cambodia was ceding territory to Vietnam along the border in Tbong Khmum province, a racially charged and contentious issue. His arrest sparked weeks of small nationalist protests in his support, leading to several other arrests.

On Wednesday, Chhun was found guilty of incitement to disturb social security alongside Ton Nimol and Sar Kanika, who had protested in support of Chhun but told the court during a trial hearing in February that they were only a tuk-tuk driver and market vendor, not political activists.

Chhun was sentenced to 24 months in jail, while Nimol and Kanika were sentenced to 20 months. Together, the three were ordered to pay 400 million riel, almost $100,000, in damages to the national border committee. They were also handed court fines of 2 million riel each, or about $500.

The three defendants reacted to the court’s decision by shouting that the verdict was unjust.

“It is injustice,” Chhun spoke out in the courtroom. “It is implemented based on a plan and order from the ruler. The court is under the influence of a politician, so the court cannot find justice for me.”

Chhun repeatedly clashed with judges and prosecutors during his trial this year, frequently objecting to the legal basis of the case against him.

Government lawyer Koun Saroeun said by phone on Wednesday that the verdict had restored “honor” to the border committee, though it had asked for higher compensation.

“As the government lawyer representing the committee, we gained back our honor and with this. We can accept it is not a problem,” Saroeun said. “For me, the [award for] damages is not really suitable yet, but we will not oppose or be disappointed over the court’s decision.”

Choem Sophal, 58, the mother of Kanika, said outside the court that her daughter had simply been concerned about injustices in society.

“[We] are the same Khmer. There should be an understanding, and she has not committed any serious mistake. And the word ‘incitement, incitement.’ I hate that word the most, incitement,” Sophal said.

She asked the court to release her daughter so she can come back home and restart her business as before.

Ouk Chhayavy, president of CITA, told reporters outside the court that the verdict was politically motivated.

“The court’s decision to sentence Rong Chhun today is a threat to the younger generation to abandon their studies, stop being aware of the country’s social issues, because those who sacrificed for the nation and society were imprisoned,” Chhayavy said.

She condemned the court system and said these decisions make people lose their trust in the judiciary.

Defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy said the court had ruled without sufficient evidence.

“There is no exact evidence showing that my clients had committed an incitement offense,” Chou Ngy said. “I will meet with my clients to discuss the right to appeal.”

In February, Khmer Win Party leader Suong Sophorn was also sentenced to 20 months in jail and ordered to pay 2 billion riel, or about $500,000, to the border committee for protesting in support of Chhun last year.

Chhun’s trial began in January, with two more hearings in February and a fourth and final session held after a Covid-19 delay on July 30.

On social media, U.S. ambassador Patrick Murphy said the conviction of “respected union leader Rong Chhun” raised serious questions about freedom of speech protected in the Constitution “and essential to the functioning of a democracy.”

“The judicial system should not be abused to silence peaceful activists,” he said.

British ambassador Tina Redshaw also said on social media that she was “seriously concerned and disappointed” about Chhun’s sentencing.

“Freedom of expression is protected in Cambodia’s constitution and the judiciary shouldn’t be used to curtail it. Strong governments are open to hearing and engaging with a range of views from all of society,” she said.

Updated at 2:15 p.m. with additional comments. Notable Arrests Jailed in 2020 VOD and rights groups have tracked at least 46 controversial arrests this year as of October 23 over a range of issues: alleged “fake news” related to the Covid-19 pandemic, protests and statements made about border demarcations with Vietnam, environmental activism, campaigning related to the outlawed opposition CNRP, and more.

Two journalists were stopped and harassed by Phnom Penh police and security agents on Friday while covering a land dispute between authorities and residents along Boeng Tompun lake.

That same day, dozens of Meanchey district authorities used bulldozers and other heavy machinery to clear the homes of about 11 families along the reservoir in the city’s Boeng Tompun 1 commune, one week after ordering the homes be dismantled to make way for a private development. Government officials say the southern Phnom Penh lake is state-owned, but the body of water has become a development hotspot due to large-scale infilling and leasing to outside firms.

An Vichet, a freelance journalist working with CamboJA who was covering the home demolitions, said police confiscated his smartphone and press card and ordered him to delete all images he’d taken of the site.

“I was asked to show a press card and delete all photos,” he said. “They took my press card away and asked me to leave the place immediately or there would be a problem, saying this is their area, so no photography was allowed.”

Vichet said the encounter was a serious violation of press freedom and a restriction on journalists’ work.

“This activity of authorities is not hidden, it is in public, so journalists just have the role to capture the images and disseminate information to the public,” he said.

VOA Khmer reporter Lors Liblib, who also covered the dispute, said about 50 authorities took part in demolishing people’s homes.

“I was taking pictures when people were angry with the authorities,” he said. “Then [police] pointed at me, ordered for me to be arrested and my cell phone confiscated, and deleted all the pictures.”

Liblib said then authorities ordered him to leave the place, otherwise they will take other legal action.

“For me, I think this is a threat to the freedom of the press and they may want to hide this from the public,” he said.

The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA) denounces the Meanchey district police and security agents for confiscating the identification cards of the reporters and calls on authorities to immediately stop such violations.

CamboJA executive director Nop Vy said in a statement that “the use of any forms of restrictions is a violation of the press law and the Constitution — that is unacceptable”.

“We call on the authorities to immediately stop the acts of harassment, intimidation and threats against journalists, and instead cooperate and pay respect to the role of journalists in order to prove that the government truly pays attention to and respects the rights of citizens, especially the right to information,” he said.

However, Phnom Penh deputy Governor Keut Chhe said the authorities’ actions against the reporters had been legally permitted.

“If we look at the instructions of the Ministry of Information, in the operation locations of authorities, journalists do not have immunity to enter the location,” he said. “Professional journalists must follow the instructions and the law, because it does not mean journalists have the right to access during the operation. It is understandable that the authorities have just deleted the image.”

Families affected by the reservoir project

Friday’s conflict played out in a similar fashion to many land disputes in the capital, where space is at a premium and new construction a booming business.

On February 20, 2018, the Council of Ministers issued a decision to provide 35 hectares of Boeng Tompun to a private company, reportedly Phnom Penh Precast Plants, to prepare the area for commercial and residential development. The company also said it would provide green space and restore the reservoir, which is dwindling in size as developers fill it with sand and earth.

Some residents say they have lived there for more than 30 years with recognition from local authorities.

Sou Chetra, 42, told CamboJA he has lived there since 1991 and that the authorities destroyed people’s houses without providing them with compensation.

“We have sent papers to the commune, district and cadastral department but have received no response. I am so hopeless now,” he said. “Please give us our land and our home, don’t hurt us. Authorities don’t need to feed us, we can live our way, just give us back [our property].”

Sari Vannda, 34, who works as a food delivery driver in Phnom Penh, said he did not know why his home was being demolished but that authorities had given him one week to move.

“Authorities just come and destroy our house by showing one paper. It’s our land and houses that we have lived in since our grandmother,” he said. “They want us to move, I don’t know how to deal with it. My family will have no place to live during COVID-19.”

Keut Chhe said after the government gave the private firm the right to develop the land, the company was obligated to offer compensation to affected families. Since the affected land is along the reservoir, authorities say it is state property and do not provide any compensation for lost property. Chhe denied that the affected homes were there for as long as residents said they were.

“The houses near the lake were just built after 2018, while those families will not receive compensation as they live on the state property,” he said. “We need to restore the reservoir to avoid flooding in the city.”

Still, it is believed that past decisions from the government did require the private firm involved in the Friday demolitions to pay compensation to displaced people at a rate set to the square meter of land lost. It’s not clear how or when those payments will be made.

Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn did not comment.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director of the rights group Licadho, said no one rejects infrastructure development under peaceful conditions, but that the impact of projects on citizens must be considered, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis.

“The best choice is peaceful negotiation rather than damage or violence that can affect people,” he said. “To evacuate people is not advantageous based on previous instances, especially during COVID-19. It is a high tragedy for people while they are affected by COVID-19 and then their home is destroyed.”

Sam Ath also said journalists should be allowed to cover without intimidation all public activities by authorities.

“Journalists have the right to report, take photos and video without any barrier,” he said. “[Raising barriers] violates freedom of press and it seriously abuses the rights of journalists.”

An online journalist says he received an anonymous call that he took to be a threat after reporting on land clearing in Siem Reap province.

Sous Chamroeun, head of CHR TV Online, claimed in a July 27 report that a local businessman had cleared hundreds of hectares of state-owned protected forest in Chi Kreng district’s Lveng Russei commune.

He said he received an anonymous call soon after telling him to remove the story and saying they would file a complaint against him. The caller said the land had been bought from citizens.

“They threatened me. First, he said that if you do not delete it, you will have a problem. Second, he said that he will file a complaint about this to the minister of information. He said that my name has not been properly registered as a journalist,” Chamroeun said.

Chamroeun said he had recorded the conversation, but declined to share it as he was waiting to see if there are further developments before filing a complaint to authorities.

A phone number for the businessman named in Chamroeun’s article, Kong Vun, who has a local electricity distribution business among his interests, was answered by a woman who would only say that she was an employee of the electricity firm.

Lveng Russei commune chief Loung Phorn said people had previously cleared land in the area before selling it to a company he could not remember, which then sold it to Vun.

Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophorn said he had not received information about the case.

Two land dispute representatives have been fined about $1,000 each for Facebook posts showing a crowd of protesters in a Svay Rieng rice field, a gathering deemed by authorities to be a violation of Covid-19 measures.

“They came to gather more than 200 people in two places,” said Svay Chrum district governor Hem Sarith.

Action would be taken against any gathering that did not have the permission of authorities, Sarith said. “We wear face masks, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings,” he said.

Since late last week, the government has ordered a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people across the country for two weeks in a bid to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.

But a series of Facebook posts by Yous Sophorn on Monday showed villagers and children gathered in fields holding up banners, many without masks. A caption said: “On August 2, authorities came to ask people to give thumbprints to take 900 riel per square meter, but they didn’t accept. Where’s the place that has such a land price?”

The land dispute dates back to 2008, when the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, together with local authorities, decided to use the area to create a reservoir. Since then, residents — who say they have farmed the land since the end of the Khmer Rouge era in 1979 — have sought appropriate compensation so that they can buy new land for farming.

Sophorn was among the two representatives who received a 4 million riel fine on Wednesday.

She said local officials were refusing to solve the problem for residents, instead persecuting them for raising the issue. She did not thumbprint the document ordering her to pay the fine, and she would not stop resisting, Sophorn said.

“I would like to request the government, especially Samdech Hun Sen, to intervene with the subordinate officials to solve the problems for the people. Otherwise, it will be prolonged even more. And the authorities have always accused the people of anything. They have always thought of accusing us without finding any way to solve it for the people to survive,” she said.

En Soth, who was also fined, said authorities were only making people more angry. About 30 people gathered outside the commune hall as Sophorn, Soth and a third representative were summoned for questioning on Wednesday.

“Where is the suitable compensation?” she said. “They said they would not take the people’s land. … If it is development on the tears of people, please do not do so, I do not want it. I want development with a decent exchange. Do not use power to oppress the people. I totally disagree.”

Four protesters seeking compensation from Phnom Penh’s new international airport development have been put in Covid-19 quarantine without cause, allege their wives, who accuse authorities of trying to silence the protests.

A local official, however, says the men were quarantined because they were in contact with a Covid-positive person when they submitted a petition at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet office in the capital.

The dispute in Kandal province has been tense for months since bulldozers attempted to clear farmers’ land. Protesters have camped out on the disputed area to stand guard, and have held a cursing ceremony against the developers, Cambodia Airport Investment, a joint venture between the Civil Aviation Secretariat and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation, the prominent firm behind Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island and several other projects. Last month, news publisher Los Seng said he was being pressured by authorities to stop reporting on the airport dispute.

Bat Sok Khoeun, 49, a resident of Kandal Stung district’s Boeng Khyang commune, said district police, commune police and commune officials arrived on Monday and gave the four protesters — including her husband — no choice but to enter Covid-19 quarantine for 14 days.

They had just returned from submitting a petition to Hun Sen’s cabinet, Sok Khoeun said.

She said the explanation for quarantine was unclear, and there was no documentation. “First, the doctor came and said that those who submitted the petition were positive. After talking longer and longer, the doctor said he came to take them to quarantine out of fear that they are positive.”

Hum Sokhem, 45, whose husband was also taken into quarantine, said she couldn’t help but feel suspicious. She demanded that authorities release the protesters and stop using Covid-19 as a way to prevent protests.

“They didn’t test anything. They came to accuse us of having Covid,” Sokhem said. “I’m just worried that they were being mistreated in connection with the land dispute with the company.”

Kandal Stung district governor Ouch Savoeun said the quarantine was purely for health precautions.

The four people were in contact with someone positive with Covid-19 when they went to file a petition at the Prime Minister’s cabinet office, Savoeun said.

“We did not arrest people. We followed administrative rules related to health work. We did not tie them up. We went to invite them to conduct quarantine because they had contacted a Covid-19 positive person,” Savoeun said. “We tested and took their sample. I’ve told them that in relation to gatherings, do not gather at all. Protests and settlements, it has been resolved.”

The protesters have been demanding compensation in line with market values — as much as $120 per square meter — rather than the offered $8, determined before the airport project was announced.

Van Sophat, a coordinator for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said some authorities appeared to be using Covid-19 as an excuse to ban land protests.

“The company and the authorities have used the pretext or taken the opportunity of Covid-19 to disperse, to deprive the people of the right to assemble and the right of expression in protecting their land. It only makes them more vulnerable. It is a very serious human rights violation,” Sophat said.

The new international airport, spanning 2,600 hectares in Kandal and Takeo provinces including an associated satellite city development, is slated to open in 2023.

A Cambodian court on Monday sentenced nine activists, including a lawmaker from the outlawed main opposition party, to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 months on incitement charges for issuing pro-democracy petitions last year, the daughter of one of the defendants said.

Police arrested the seven opposition activists in October and December 2020 on incitement charges for staging a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in the capital Phnom Penh last Oct. 23, the 29th anniversary of the singing of the Paris Peace Agreement, marking the official end of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War.

During the demonstration, they tried to submit petitions to the embassies of China, France, and the United States, saying that Cambodia had violated the democratic principles set forth in the Paris Peace Agreement.

Shortly after the arrests, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly accused lawmaker Ho Van, an opposition official now living in California, of instigating the protests.

Shortly before the verdict was announced at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, one of the detained activists, Lim San, complained about the violation of detainees’ rights, lack of treatment for ill prisoners, and verbal abuse by guards in Prey Sar Prison where she is serving pre-trial detention, said her daughter Phan Sat.

The judge ignored her comments and read the verdicts for former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Ho Vann and activist San Seihak, who is now living exile in Thailand, to 20 months in prison for instigating incitement to cause serious social unrest, Phan Sat said.

Four activists — Hong An, Lim San, Yoy Sreymom, and Ton Nimol — were each sentenced to 18 months in jail for incitement to commit serious social unrest, she said. The three other activists — Pai Ren, Sann Srey Neat, and Sat Pha, were sentenced to 12 months in prison on the same charges.

The judge told the seven activists, who were fined two million riel (U.S. $483) each, that they could file appeals if they were dissatisfied with the verdict.

Phan Sat, who attended the trial, said that the judge’s ruling was unfair. She maintains that her mother was acting legally during the protest and demanded that the court drop the charges and release all the activists.

“I want [her] to appeal because I do not agree with the verdict,” she said. “My mother is innocent. She had done nothing wrong.”

RFA could not reach defense lawyer Sam Sokong for comment.

He previously said that his clients’ protests are a guaranteed form of freedom of expression under Cambodia’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The multinational treaty states that everyone has the rights to hold opinions without interference and to freedom of expression.

Civil society groups say that those who participated in the peaceful protest in front of the Chinese embassy were expressing their opinion.

Heng Kimhong, head of the research and advocacy program of the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), urged the court to reconsider the convictions and sentences and said that unjust detentions would seriously affect human rights.

“Perhaps because they [the defendants] understood that since China was an important signatory to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement that upheld human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression, they had gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to demand that [China recognize Hun Sen's violations of the pact],” he said. “Their protests and demands are not a crime.”

Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after the arrest of its leader Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sen’s government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to win the country’s 2018 general elections.

Former CNRP lawmakers, political opposition activists, their relatives, and their supporters still face backlashes. Since early 2020, more than 80 political, environmental, and social activists, including a popular rapper, have been imprisoned on incitement charges as Hun Sen’s government seeks to silence its critics.

Three environmental activists convicted earlier this year on incitement charges related to a planned protest have been handed a new charge of ‘plotting’ by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in connection with an ongoing case against four other activists.

The trio, members of the environmental group Mother Nature, have been in prison since September 2020, when they were arrested for planning a one-woman march to raise awareness of the impact of filling in lakes for development in the capital. In May, they were sentenced to 18 to 20 months.

Rights group Licadho said Thon Ratha, Long Kunthea, and Phuon Keoreaksmey were handed an additional charge of plotting and questioned by the Municipal Court this week. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison. Licadho said their lawyers were not informed ahead of time and so the activists appeared at court without representation.

Sam Chamroeun, who represented the three in their last case, said Ratha was questioned on Monday, Kunthea was questioned on Tuesday and Ms Keoreaksmey was questioned on Wednesday, but said they refused to talk without their lawyers present.

“I just knew that they were summoned to be questioned but they did not answer yet because they are waiting for their lawyer [to defend them],” Chamroeun.

Attorney Sam Sokong said that all three activists were summoned for questioning over the new charges, which are connected with a second case involving activists who were arrested in June and charged with plotting and insulting the king, after reportedly taking photos of sewage being released into the Tonle Sap River near the Royal Palace.

Environmental activists Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were arrested on June 16 and later charged with both plotting and insulting the king. Another activist, Ly Chandaravuth, was charged only with plotting. All three youths are now in pretrial detention at Prey Sar prison’s CC1 and CC2. Mother Nature co-founder and Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who remains abroad, was also charged with plotting and insulting the King. The case has been widely condemned as politically motivated, and represents just the latest in a series of cases against Mother Nature — which has long drawn the government’s ire.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Im Vannak, declined to comment, referring questions to the court spokesman, who could not be reached.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director of Licadho, said the charges were clearly aimed at silencing criticism among others.

“That additional charge for them is a threat and [aimed to] pressure environmental activists and other youths who want to join to protect the environment,” he said, adding that the government should support those trying to better Cambodia.

“We saw that the US and the US ambassador in Cambodia also requested the government to release them because they understand that it is not a crime and it is freedom of expression and activity to join the [fight to protect the] environment,” said Sam Ath.

Chak Sopheap, executive directive of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said they strongly condemn the arrests and charges.

“The charges of plotting and lèse-majesté are a blatant illustration of the dangerous and restrictive environment in which activists in Cambodia operate and of the RGC’s [Royal Government of Cambodia] relentless efforts to stifle critical voices in the country,” she wrote in a message.

“CCHR deplores that imprisonment is an increasingly common price to pay for speaking out for human rights in Cambodia. We, therefore, urge the RGC to immediately release all the activists jailed for conducting their legitimate work, including members of the Mother Nature environmental group, and to unconditionally drop all the charges against them.”

A journalist working for Siem Reap Breaking News and arrested on Wednesday was charged with incitement and violations of the Covid-19 Law, the latter punishable by up to three years in prison.

Kouv Piseth, 32, was arrested by provincial military police in Battambang city on Wednesday for alleged incitement. The military police said the arrest was linked to Facebook posts from Piseth, but did not specify exactly what the journalist had said or done on the social media platform to warrant the arrest.

Duong Saron, a spokesperson for the Battambang court prosecutor’s office, confirmed on Friday that Piseth has been charged with incitement, under Article 495 of Criminal Code, as well as Article 11 of the controversial Covid-19 law for “obstruction of measure enforcement.”

While incitement carries up to two years in prison, the Covid-19 law violation carries a six-month to three-year prison sentence for intentionally obstructing or deterring the implementation of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus. It also carries a potential fine of about $500 to $2,500.

Chea Chanreaksmey, a spokesperson for the Battambang Provincial Court, did not say exactly how Piseth obstructed Covid-19 measures.

“Regarding the case, the investigating judge decided to place him in pretrial detention yesterday. Regarding the crime, I did not get more detail about the charges because it is in the process of investigation,” Chanreaksmey said.

In a June 27 Facebook post, Piseth questioned whether Chinese vaccines had been evaluated by the World Health Organization and if the vaccines should be used in Cambodia.

“Have the Chinese vaccines been evaluated by the WHO yet? If it has not, it should not be brought to inject because it has not been recognized,” the post said.

In May and June, the WHO approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. The Cambodian government started using both vaccines before their formal approval.

Piseth had other Facebook posts accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of acquiring assets in the country by betraying the nation — an accompanying image has mansions and arrows pointing to forests, a gold mine, an island and other resources.

Rights groups have criticized the Covid-19 Law for being broad and for having severe prison sentences for violations. The incitement charge has been used by the judiciary as a catchall to prosecute any expression of dissent.

Phnom Penh police said last month that 11 people had been charged and jailed in the city under the law at the time, mostly for obstructing the implementation of lockdown rules.

The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) are deeply concerned that VOD reporters have been repeatedly stopped and intimidated by authorities while they are carrying out their professional duties.

On June 18, 2021, Prek Pnov district authorities with more than 10 members led by the district governor stopped and threatened a VOD videographer from the Cambodian Center for Independent Media who had gone to capture a temporary stopping place for Vietnamese people’s floating houses and fish farms after they were evacuated by authorities from a number of locations in Phnom Penh. In addition, the authorities also took photos of the videographer and his press card, and made a threat that he would be in trouble if any photos or videos were published.

This case came just a week after VOD reporters were blocked and threatened in a separate incident. On the morning of June 11, a VOD reporter and a videographer went to report the delivery of petitions by about 10 women, all wives of former CNRP activists, to the European Union. Daun Penh district authorities, with about 60 guards and officials, banned the reporters from taking photos and videos, warning that their equipment would be confiscated and they would be sent to the district hall if they dared to do so.

The Observatory has been informed about the denial of bail to Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika amid a COVID-19 outbreak in many Cambodian prisons. Mr. Chhun, a prominent labour rights defender, is the President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and a member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC) [1]. Ms. Kanika is a member of the youth group Khmer Thavrak [2] and an ex-member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

On June 8, 2021, Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were denied bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which claimed that the crime for which they have been detained affects social security and is therefore unbailable. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were not present at the bail hearing as prison officers requested the court to suspend the transportation of inmates to tribunals due to public health concerns. Since mid-May 2021, many Cambodian prisons have been affected by an outbreak of COVID-19. These prisons include Phnom Penh’s Correction Centre 1 (CC1) and Correction Centre 2 (CC2), where the two human rights defenders remain detained, respectively. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika have been denied access to their lawyers for over four months, raising concerns over their current health condition.

The Observatory recalls that Rong Chhun was arbitrarily arrested at his home in Phnom Penh on July 31, 2020. On August 1, 2020, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged him with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” (Article 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Court) and ordered his pre-trial detention in CC1. Rong Chhun’s detention came following several public statements he made on behalf of the CWC in which he reported community land loss as a result of the demarcation of the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

Sar Kanika was arbitrarily detained in August 2020, amid a wave of arrests of human rights defenders and activists in relation to their planning of peaceful assemblies that were to take place at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh in September 2020 in order to demand the release of Rong Chhun. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Sar Kanika with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” and placed her in pre-trial detention in CC2.

The Observatory further recalls that Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy , Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, and Eng Malai (aka So Metta), members of Khmer Thavrak, as well as Muong Sopheak and Mean Prommony, member and Vice-President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), respectively, remain detained under the same charges in relation to the same acts. Their bail application was likewise rejected by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on May 18, 2021.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention of the above-mentioned human rights defenders and reiterates its deepest concern about the Cambodian authorities’ systematic legal harassment to target all critical voices, and about the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, including through increasing obstacles to the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly in Cambodia.

The Observatory is further concerned about the risks for the health of all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in the overcrowded Cambodian prisons and calls on the authorities to immediately take all necessary measures to ensure their access to adequate healthcare and protective equipment, and reduce the prison population through the adoption of non-custodial measures.

The Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Rong Chhun, Sar Kanika, Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, Eng Malai (aka So Metta), Muong Sopheak, and Mean Prommony. The Observatory also calls fortheir immediate and unconditional release, along with all other human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Cambodia, in order to protect their right to health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actions requested:

Three Mother Nature environmentalists were charged on Monday and placed in pretrial detention at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, as the mother of one of the activists said she was in shock but buoyed by support on social media, including from celebrities.

Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were charged with plotting, which carries a jail term of five to 10 years, and insulting the king, punishable by one to five years. Ly Chandaravuth was charged with plotting, according to municipal court spokesperson Y Rin.

Ratha was placed in pretrial detention at Correctional Center II, and Leanghy and Chandaravuth at Correctional Center I, Rin said.

A fourth activist was also arrested in Phnom Penh but has been released.

Ly Chanavy, Chandaravuth’s mother, said she could not see her son’s face at the court on Monday as he had been brought in through a back entrance. But she had earlier seen all three smiling as they were transferred to and from the court, she said.

“They smiled with tears,” Chanavy said.

She was uplifted by seeing strong support for them on social media, she added.

Thierry Chantha Bin, a France-born footballer on the Cambodian national team, shared a post about the activists with emoji of an upheld fist, Cambodian flag and a sproutling. Comedian Peypey Dy also shared the post.

Singer Kesorrr said: “Hope to get further information and hope that nothing bad happens to them.” Singer Jenny Vee added a message: “Can we join hands together one more time?” #justice4all #justice4Rotha #justice4Daravuth #justice4Leanghy”

“Although I’m upset and shocked, I get power from them, because people who have never paid attention to the environment before and never shared [about it], this time they’re sharing and posting, including singers and a footballer,” Chanavy said.

She said the three arrested environmentalists, including her son, had shown bravery.

“He told me that what he has done for society is [for] a clean environment, no polluted water and no impact on biodiversity, and for people’s health and to keep the forests — he thought this was not wrong,” Chanavy said.

The activists were filming sewage discharge on Phnom Penh’s Riverside at the time of their arrest. On Facebook, Mother Nature posted photos of the activists advocating for environmental issues.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, said Mother Nature’s deported co-founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, was also charged with plotting and insulting the king.

The charges against the environmentalists were severe, Sam Ath said. “We see these charges as a serious threat and intimidation for youth that love and protect the environment and natural resources — this is to break their spirit.”

Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak alleged last week that the group was using environmental issues to try to topple the government.

Three other Mother Nature activists were arrested for incitement last September and sentenced to 18-20 months in jail last month. The latest arrests came just a week after the U.S. ambassador met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng over previous prosecutions against environmentalists.

A community representative in a Preah Sihanouk land dispute was arrested in a case in which three Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community members were also sentenced to jail last year, and which has previously been reported as involving Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.

Sam Sophat, who the coalition said had represented 68 families in a dispute in Prey Nob district, was arrested on Sunday based on a court warrant from March, said district police chief Hour Yay.

According to a Supreme Court document, Sophat was found guilty by the provincial court on June 17 last year, alongside Sam Samol, Svay Sareth and Nhek Sara. The verdict was upheld by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court last year.

Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community director Theng Savoeun said the three others were members of the coalition, but had not been sent to jail.

He said they had all been sentenced under Article 97 of the Forestry Law, which lists 10 different crimes carrying jail terms of five to 10 years.

According to Savoeun, the case involved the Than Sour company and one of its developments in the area. The company could not be found on Commerce Ministry records, but the Phnom Penh Post reported in 2016 that the company was managed by Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.

Preah Sihanouk Provincial court spokesperson Yem Bunareth declined to comment on the case and arrest.

Cheap Sotheary, provincial coordinator for human rights group Adhoc, said she had attended last year’s court trial, where Sophat and the others were accused of removing trees from land claimed by Than Sour. But Sophat had argued that he owned the land and that he had planted trees, not removed them. The case had been brought to court by the Forestry Administration, she said.

Sotheary added that Than Sour was involved in several land disputes in the area.

Long Lun, Sophat’s lawyer, said his client was also involved in several lawsuits, and he was not clear on the arrest.

Sophat’s brother Sam Sopheap said Sophat had been called into the commune police station then arrested by district officers.

“Five criminal police officers came to arrest him. They took him to the district police office and one hour later sent him to the provincial police and to the prison yesterday at 11 a.m.,” Sopheap said on Tuesday.

Savoeun, the CCFC director, said the dispute was about people living on forestry land, and the Forestry Administration should grant land to them rather than prosecute them.

Chhay Ly, the deputy prime minister, is also chair of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, a governmental body established in 1998.

Kea Sokun, a young Siem Reap rapper jailed for incitement over his nationalist lyrics, had his yearlong prison sentence upheld by the Appeal Court in Battambang on Wednesday.

Sokun was arrested last September in relation to his song “Dey Khmer,” or Khmer Land, which now has more than 4 million views on YouTube. The song spoke about “the bravery to stand up,” while also warning that “the other race is encroaching” — an apparent reference to long-standing, racially tinged fears related to the Vietnamese border that sparked protests and arrests last year. He was found guilty in late December.

Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager for rights group Licadho, said the NGO provided a lawyer for Sokun at the Appeal Court, which upheld the earlier Siem Reap Provincial Court verdict.

“There were a lot of challenges [made] — the key thing that the lawyer raised about this was the freedom of expression of people, including composing songs and singing songs, and that there was no intention to incite chaos in society or serve anybody’s interest. His intention was to earn money on YouTube,” Sam Ath said.

Sokun was talented, and officials should educate him rather than jail him so he can be an artist that contributes to society, Sam Ath said.

“The prosecutor still kept their stance that the song has an inciting nature and is a crime,” he said. “As civil society, we do not see it as a crime as charged. But we see that he has talent in composing songs and expressing his views.”

Sokun’s sister, Kea Channa, said the family was disappointed by the decision.

“He was just expressing his view about his country and the nation, but instead he was given heavy punishment,” Channa said.

Teang Sambo, spokesperson for the Appeal Court in Battambang, confirmed that the court upheld the verdict.

Earlier this week, the American Bar Association issued a report on the case, in which it said that “[t]he charge of incitement is so broad that the government can apply it in a variety of cases.”

“Together, Articles 494 and 495 form a vague charge that some say is left open to politically motivated misuse,” the association said.

In Sokun’s case, he was “held for an excessive period of time prior to his trial,” the prosecution did not “present any concrete evidence” that his songs actually incited crimes, and it failed “to prove Sokun’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” it said.

“The prosecution and court have failed in their legal obligations to perform their roles in finding the truth and providing justice duly in line with Cambodian law and the ICCPR,” or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the association said, and suggested bail for Sokun during the appeal process, among other recommendations.

The association’s senior staff attorney Waris Husain said the ABA had followed some trials in Cambodia over the past two years, including an espionage trial against two Radio Free Asia journalists and prosecutions against six top labor leaders.

“What we have seen recently is the use of Article 495 incitement to violence/crime being used against human rights defenders and those critical of the government. As the case involving Kea Sokun involved a charge like this, we decided to monitor and analyze the case leading to our fair trial report,” Husain said.

The Justice Ministry has repeatedly defended the courts’ independence and due process, and officials have said that free expression is restricted if it is ill-intended or harms society. The Culture Ministry has previously said in the context of Sokun’s case that it works to educate artists who produce improper works but takes stronger action if they do not listen.

“When it comes to arrests and such, it means that you’ve gone beyond the redline, and it’s come to affect social order and public order,” Culture Ministry spokesperson Long Bunna Sireyvath previously said.

Four members of the Mother Nature environmental group – Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth, Yim Leanghy and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson – were charged on Sunday, according to pro-government local media, with plotting and insulting the king (lèse majesté) under Articles 453 and 437(bis) of the Criminal Code, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and 5 years, respectively.

Ratha and Chandaravuth were arrested alongside another activist, Seth Chhivlimeng, in Phnom Penh. The three were arrested on Wednesday morning, apparently in relation to their activities documenting runoff draining into the Tonle Sap river in the capital’s Daun Penh district. Chhivlimeng was later released from detention after being detained for 24 hours at the Police Private Security Management department of the Ministry of Interior, while Ratha and Chandaravuth remained in detention.

Also on Wednesday, police in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district summonsed environmental activist Yim Leanghy for questioning and he was arrested after arriving at the police station. He was later transferred to Phnom Penh and was sent to court along with Ratha and Chandaravuth. Leanghy, Ratha and Chandaravuth face between 1 and 5 years in prison for insulting the king as well as a fine of between 2 and 10 million riel ($500 to $2,500), and they also face between 5 and 10 years in prison for plotting. Also charged with the same crimes was Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015 in relation to his activities as the co-founder of the Mother Nature Cambodia environmental movement.

Leanghy is a 32-year-old student who obtained a scholarship to study for a Master’s degree at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute of Foreign Languages. Ratha is a 26-year-old accountant who graduated from the University of Cambodia, where she was also studying on a scholarship. Chandaravuth is a 22-year-old law student in his 4th year of studying law at the Royal University of Law and Economics.

Last month, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced three other imprisoned environmental activists associated with the Mother Nature movement to between 18 and 20 months in prison for organising a peaceful, one-woman march to highlight the filling-in of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok lake. Two other Mother Nature members, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson and Chea Kunthin, were also sentenced in absentia at the time.