Uwazi

Today, on 22 June 2020, a group of six environmental activists, including one monk, presented at Botumvatey Pagoda Park to exhibit images of Koh Kong Province�s Koh Kong Krao Island to the public. The exhibition of the pictures of Koh Kong Krao Island which started at around 4.30pm is part of their campaign called �Save Koh Kong Krao� in which they demand the Cambodian government to classify this island as a protected national sea park to enable it to preserve its natural resources. Authorities arrived to prevent the exhibition declaring that the youth group required prior permission from the Phnom Penh Municipality in order to display the images.

On 22 June 2020, six environmental defenders were prevented by the police from staging an event part of a campaign to preserve a natural site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday convicted and sentenced in absentia the activist Kong Raiya to two years in prison. However, he will only serve four months and 18 days. This is over the sale of t-shirts bearing the images and quotes of slain political analyst Kem Ley in July last year. Raiya has already served more than four months in pre-trial detention.

Judge Ouk Reth Kunthea said Raiya, 28, was charged with �incitement to commit a felony and committing a misdemeanor� under Articles 494, 495 and 88 of the Criminal Code.

�The court convicts and sentences Kong Raiya to two years in prison. But he will only serve four months and 18 days prison time. The rest of his sentence will be suspended. He is now out on bail,� Judge Kunthea said.

Raiya was arrested on July 9 last year after he urged activists to participate in marking the death anniversary of Mr Ley which was banned by City Hall. He also put up t-shirts for sale on Facebook.

On the t-shirts Raiya wrote �If you do nothing, you will be victimised. It is just not your turn yet,� quoting Mr Ley.

He was released on bail from Prey Sar prison on November 29 last year.

Mr Raiya could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mr Sam Sokong, Raiya�s lawyer, said yesterday the judgment was unjust because his client only wanted to sell t-shirts, not call for a change of government.

He said his client did not incite anyone to commit a crime. He only printed Mr Ley�s quotes and portrait on t-shirts based on freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

On 19 June 2020, Kong Raiya, pro-democacy defender, was convicted to two-year imprisonment in absentia by the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Siem Reap Provincial Court has launched a preliminary rape investigation into prominent activist monk Luon Savath, in relation to Facebook videos released last week alleging the monk had inappropriate relations with four women, a charge he has denied.

The alleged videos were released on a Facebook account called �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� and purportedly showed Venerable Luon Sovath having salacious conversations with a woman and her three daughters. Apart from posting these videos, the account, which was created two weeks ago, has had no other activity.

The activist monk, who is in hiding, has �vehemently� denied the accusation calling it politically motivated. However, the Monk Council in Siem Reap announced on June 3 that he had been expelled from the clergy, accusing him of having sexual intercourse.

Additionally, local police executed a search warrant this week and confiscated materials from the monk�s home.

On Friday, Siem Reap court spokesperson Chuon Sophanha said a victim had complained about the monk and that authorities were investigating the monk for rape.

�We suspect rape since we have the complaints from the victim,� he said.

He refused to provide any details of the alleged crime or if the court had evidence to proceed with the investigation. He also denied confirming if the court had issued an arrest warrant.

�You should not ask who are involved with this since it can affect the investigation and [Luon Sovath] can flee,� he said.

Siem Reap Police Chief Tith Narong said on Friday that Luon Sovath was suspected of committing an offense, but directed queries to the Siem Reap court.

�It is related to audio messages and a complaint from the victim,� he said. �[We] followed the court warrant which is to bring [Luon Sovath] to court.�

On Wednesday, Tith Narong told VOA Khmer that Luon Sovath had not committed a crime, but changed his response on Friday.

According to Article 239 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, a person can be imprisoned for five to ten years for rape, and up to 15 years if the crime was committed under aggravating circumstances.

On Wednesday, Luon Sovath, who had not spoken publicly since the videos were published, said the videos were doctored and that he had not committed any of the alleged crimes. He said the case was politically motivated.

In a long Facebook post, he said police had seized a lot of his property, including an SUV, an icebox, refrigerator, phones, camera equipment and had even questioned two of his �nephews.�

On Friday, Luon Sovath briefly responded to a request for comment, again denying the allegations leveled against him and calling the Facebook account �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� fake.

�I haven�t chatted or called anyone from my Facebook accounts,� he said. �[I want] to be silent so this can pass.�

�They can accuse anyone since they have the extreme power to create this setup,� he added.

The four videos in question have been circulating on Facebook, and seemed to originate from one account, �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� that was created on May 30. The videos, according to the accompanying text on Facebook, are recordings with four women � a mother and three daughters.

The video recordings are of an unidentified person, or persons, sitting in a dimly-lit room and having Facebook audio conversations, ranging from 7 to 10 minutes each. The video is shot so that only the person�s hand holding the smartphone can be seen.

This Facebook account links to three other accounts, suggesting they are the three daughters. However, on one of these accounts, the user posted last week that she and her family were being wrongly involved in this issue.

�The page Srey Da Chi-Kraeng is badly intended to mistreat me,� the user said in the post.

In another post from June 2, the user said her sisters and mother had not done �bad things� with Luon Sovath. These Facebook users did not respond to requests for comment.

On 12 June 2020, Luon Savath, monk and environmental defender, was investigated by the provincial court under sexual misconduct allegations, police searched his house in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Today, on 3 June 2020, a group of 18 youth environmental activists were banned from cycling from Koh Kong to Phnom Penh by Koh Kong district authorities. The activists were taking part in a campaign to �Save Koh Kong Krao Island� where they were attempting to cycle to the capital to submit a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Their petition requests the government to classify Kong Kong Krao island as a protected national sea park to enable it to preserve its natural resources.

When authorities interfered with the procession, each activist was required to undergo a temperature check. Activists refused the authorities request to present their identity cards, however agreed to write and submit a list of their names. The authorities also wanted to review their petition and asked them to thumbprint a letter declaring that they would not submit the petition to the local authority � but the activists refused both requests. At around 11:30am 10 of their bicycles were taken by Koh Kong district police. At around 2:00pm Koh Kong district police invited all the activists to have a discussion over the confiscation of their bicycles, requesting to meet with one activist at a time, but they refused the police�s request because they had already informed the authorities of the purpose of their campaign.

Koh Kong provincial hall spokesman Sok Sothy told The Post that authorities had taken the bicycles and blocked the group from moving forward because they had not cooperated with the authorities.

“We asked them to come in for a Covid-19 screening and they did not cooperate,” he said. He said the group had gathered without legal permission.

“They said they want to submit the petition to Samdach, but the government has announced a ban on large gatherings. They come from many groups and areas, including Koh Kong, Battambang and Preah Sihanouk and we have to restrain them,” he said.

Sothy said if the youth group intended to submit a petition to Hun Sen, they should have submitted a letter to the provincial administration to follow up on their journey and avoid any unpleasant incidents.

He said if the group had cooperated with the authorities from the beginning, there would have been no problems.

On 3 June 2020, 18 environmental defenders were prevented by the police to stage an event part of a campaign aimed at asking the Prime Minister to preserve a natural site in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia.

A Ratanakkiri province-based TV3 reporter has requested an extension to a court summons he was issued last week which stemmed from a story he covered about a land dispute at an abandoned Ratanakkiri airport site.

The summons, issued by deputy prosecutor Ra Borandy and dated June 3, said Phal Dam, the 52-year-old journalist, was due to appear in the provincial court at 9am on Monday to respond to allegations made by Banlung town deputy governor Put Dany, who accused Dam of �incitement to commit a crime�.

Dam told The Post last week that he had not committed any crimes and he did not know why he was being accused.

Concerning the story that caused the controversy, he said he interviewed residents who criticised the authorities� for allowing land grabs at airport sites and their refusal to deal with land disputes.

Dam said: �I don�t know Put Dany, but I�ve just found out that he is the deputy governor of Banlung town. Now I am preparing the relevant documents concerning the case and researching facts.

�Moreover, I am looking for a lawyer to help, as I do not yet understand what charges are being brought against me.�

He said on Sunday that he had applied to postpone his appearance last Friday in court and mentioned the summons was unclear.

Dany could not be reached for comment.

Provincial Department of Information director Kol Phanna said last week he had received information about the case, but he did not know the reason for the lawsuit. He urged the two parties to settle the matter out of court.

He said there had been prior complaints against the reporter concerning clarification in his reporting, although they had never led to legal action.

Phanna said: �I do not see this summons as a threat to the freedom of the press. Every person has his or her reputation to consider, so if reporters are reporting professionally and ethically, I don�t believe that they will be sued, and if they have enough evidence, they should not be afraid.�

Nop Vy, the executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Association (Cambo-JA), said the lawsuit was a violation of the rights of the press.

According to the law on journalism, Vy said, if journalists write or publish something that is not clear, those involved should clarify or write a letter to the media organisation.

�If there�s an error related to news writing, we correct it by using the journalism laws, not by using the courts. If journalists face issues like this over small things, no journalist would dare write about the inaction of officials, and more officials would become corrupt,� he said.

On 3 June 2020, Phal Dam, media worker, was summoned by the prosecutor upon request of the local governor, after covering a land grabbing case in the airport site affecting local villagers in Ratanakkiri Province, Cambodia.

Banteay Meanchey police officials detained and later released human and environmental rights activist Hun Vannak on Monday, as security forces were deployed for a planned protest by market vendors in Poipet town.

Poipet residents, most of whom are market vendors in Rong Kleu Market in Thailand across the border, planned to demonstrate on Monday morning requesting that the border to be reopened to resume trade in the market. The Thai border has been closed since March to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Hun Vannak, who was at the protest as an independent observer, was documenting the planned demonstration, especially the heavy security presence that had been deployed by provincial authorities. While taking photographs and videos of the security presence, Hun Vannak said he was arrested and taken to a site near the train station for questioning.

�If there is violence against the people, then that would be a human rights violation,� said Hun Vannak, who is also part of a newly-formed youth movement called Khmer Thavareak. �And as a human rights activist, I need to monitor that.�

Hun Vannak told VOA Khmer that he was accused of collecting information for the opposition party, a reference to the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party. He was forced to delete all the photos and videos he filmed on Monday, but he refused to sign an agreement with the police nor did he speak during his questioning, which was filmed by the police.

The youth activist previously worked for environmental protection NGO Mother Nature, and was imprisoned for 18 months in early 2018 for his activism against sand dredging in Koh Kong province.

Seth Los, deputy chief for the Banteay Meanchey provincial police, said authorities only wanted to question Hun Vannak and had not arrested him. He added that they educated Hun Vannak and released him after asking him not to indulge in any �illegal activities.�

�We invited him to sit with us to ask him where he come from and what his work is,� said Seth Los. �After we got the answers, the deputy prosecutor educated him and allowed him to go back to his house.�

Asked about the heavy security presence in Poipet, Seth Los said it was in response to the planned demonstration, refusing to provide additional details.

Din Puthy, head of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association which helps informal workers in the border town, said the protest on Monday was canceled because of the heavy security presence.

The civil society member said market vendors and transportation workers were hurting financially because of the border closure and authorities needed to open the checkpoint to allow vendors to trade.

�So, if we cannot earn, we don't have money to spend,� Din Puthy said. �They have to spend on their bank loan, children�s school fees, food, electricity, and everything. That is why they worry that they might have to go hungry.�

VOA Khmer could not reach Banteay Meanchey Governor Um Reatrey for comment on Monday.

Local publication VOD English reported last week that authorities had deployed security forces across the border town after a request for the protest was rejected by the province, especially a heavy presence of security personnel at Din Puthy�s residence.

Sum Chankea, rights civil society group ADHOC�s Banteay Meanchey monitor, said preventing residents from protesting and the detention of Hun Vannak was a serious violation of human rights.

"It is the violation of liberties and the freedom of expression, including dissemination of information,� he said.

On 1 June 2020, Hun Vannak, member of youth organisation 'Khmer Thavareak', was temporarily arrested by the police, and prevented from reporting workers' COVID-19 related protest in Poipet, Cambodia.

The Monk Council in Siem Reap province expelled prominent activist monk and human rights defender Venerable Luon Savath on Wednesday, based on leaked audio recordings purportedly between the monk and a group of women.

In a decision dated June 3, head of the Monk Council in Siem Reap, Chum Kimleng, alleged that Luon Sovath had conversations about �deep love� with women, which were shared on Facebook. The statement added that the conversations were between the monk, a woman and her daughters, alleging that Luon Sovath indulged in sexual activity.

�If Luon Sovath wears monk robes from now on, related authorities take legal actions,� read the announcement, which defrocked the monk effective Wednesday.

The Monk Council claimed to have investigated the video recordings, but did not provide any evidence or forensic analysis with the statement to show the voice in the recordings belonged to Luon Sovath or if he had acted in violation of religious norms.

VOA Khmer attempted to reach Luon Sovath on the phone and his social media accounts on Thursday, but the activist monk did not respond to requests for comment.

There are four videos circulating on Facebook, and seem to originate from one account, called Srey Da Chi-Kraeng that was created on May 30. The videos, according to the accompanying text on Facebook, are recordings with four women � a mother and three daughters.

The video recordings are of an unidentified person, or persons, sitting in a dimly-lit room and having Facebook audio conversation, ranging seven to 10 minutes each. The video is shot so that only the person�s hand holding the smartphone can be seen.

The Facebook account involved in the alleged call has a male voice and uses the image of Luon Sovath and his name in Khmer script. The conversations are flirtatious in nature and include discussions about giving each other massages.

VOA Khmer could identify two Facebook accounts and one page used by Luon Sovath in the past. One of the accounts, which seems to belong to the venerable monk was created in 2017, it has the same display picture as that seen in the videotaped Facebook calls.

However, VOA Khmer found another Facebook account, called Luon Sovath, using the same display picture and was created on May 29, a day before the Srey Da Chi-Kraeng account was created.

The Monk Council in Siem Reap could not be reached on Thursday to provide details of their investigation into the recordings.

Bor Bet, a monk and member of Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, received a call from Luon Sovath last week, with the activist monk alleging that �people wanted to mistreat me.�

�He told me that they want to frame him,� Bor Bet said. �[Luon Sovath said] it is a political case and done because we are human right defenders.�

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture and Religion, Seng Somony, said the ministry had received the decision to defrock Luon Sovath, rejecting the accusation that the development was politically motivated.

�It is about violating Buddhist rules, it is not related to politics,� he said, adding that there will be no further investigation into the matter.

�But if [Luon Sovath] wants to prove he didn�t do it, he can prove his innocence in front of the monk chief,� he said.

Luon Sovath has been internationally recognized for his work in documenting land rights abuses in Cambodia and was featured in the documentary, A Cambodian Spring, for his activism. In 2012, the multimedia-savvy monk was nominated for Martin Ennals Awards in Geneva, Switzerland.

On 30 May 2020, Luon Sovath, award-winner monk and environmental defender, was victim of online harassment and false accusation by unknow social media account in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The leader of an informal workers� union in Poipet City said excessive security forces were deployed throughout the city as a �threat� after his request to hold a demonstration over border crossing restrictions next week was denied.

Din Puthy, head of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association, told VOD on Wednesday that authorities deployed forces around Poipet City, with about 25 security guards patrolling near his house in the city on the Thai border.

Puthy said he saw the increased presence of authorities and state surveillance as a threat.

�This deployment is a threat to [union members�] feelings and spirits,� Puthy said. �They are monitoring us, and they are afraid that we will assemble our members. This morning, some [union] members came to my house, but they dared not enter because there were so many security forces.�

He said he noticed forces patrolling near his home on Wednesday, two days after he submitted a request to hold a seven-day protest starting on June 1.

Provincial police chief Ath Khem rejected Puthy�s accusations and said the deployment of security forces in the city was to ensure public order.

�He asked permission to hold a demonstration and the provincial [government] issued a notice, informing him that he was not allowed. No one deployed forces at his house,� Khem claimed. �What position is he holding that he needs to be protected?�

In 2016, Puthy, then also the outlawed opposition CNRP�s deputy head of operations in Poipet, was detained on charges of aggravated intentional violence after authorities accused him of driving his SUV into border police officer Chhean Pisith. But video footage and eyewitness accounts revealed Pisith fell to the ground before Puthy�s car could hit him, resulting in the officer being mocked online for �acting� and flopping in front of the vehicle.

On Monday, Puthy�s informal economy association submitted a letter to Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey stating that over the course of next week, about 1,500 people would gather to call for the Cambodia-Thailand border to reopen to people, including Rong Kleu market vendors, cart-pushing porters and drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and motorbikes.

The union said if Thailand did not allow Cambodian pedestrians, carts and vehicles to enter Thailand�s Sakeo province from Cambodia, authorities should close the Cambodian side of the border to goods entering from Thailand, according to the letter, which was signed by Puthy.

The unionist also raises concerns that Cambodian vendors who have goods stored at the Rong Kleu market will not be able to sell their products, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, before they expire or are damaged by water, rats or insects.

Puthy claims that while the Poipet border crossing is still closed, some Cambodians were bribing Thai authorities to gain entry to Thailand through illegal crossings, which raised the risk of Covid-19 transmission. He added that the opening of the border gate would help reduce illegal crossings.

The provincial government issued a statement later on Monday rejecting the union�s request for a demonstration and noting the authorities� actions were intended to prevent coronavirus transmission amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Puthy, also known as Mang Puthy, said he and union members would not protest after hearing the government�s response, but the public had the right to protest if they so desired.

�I changed my mind because I had informed the provincial hall, and the provincial hall issued a letter rejecting my request,� Puthy told VOD on Wednesday.

�I should not participate and the association will also not participate, but people can still keep holding the demonstration,� he added.

Soeng Senkaruna, spokesman for the human rights organization Adhoc, urged authorities to focus their energy on trying to find a solution for the people who planned to demonstrate, rather than increasing security measures.

�This is an issue because [people] try to demand a solution to the economic crisis or the challenging living conditions that they are facing because there is nothing they can do for their livelihoods,� Senkaruna said. �For these issues, I think all relevant authorities should conduct a survey of the issues [people] are facing in order to find solutions for them.�

On 27 May, Din Puthy, labour rights defender, was intimidated and surveilled by securiy forces after the local Government denied his request to hold a protest against work restrictions due to COVID-19 in Poipet, Cambodia.

A journalist and radio station owner in Kampong Chhnang province was jailed on Friday on incitement charges in relation to his �exaggerated and inciting� news coverage and comments on a land dispute, officials said.

Sok Udom, owner of the 99.75 FM radio station and Rithysen news website, was provisionally detained after he was questioned in court and charged with incitement to commit a felony, said Chhuon Sivin, a provincial court spokesman.

�Sok Udom incited and provoked people to protest, accusing authorities of taking a military base and state land as personal property, which caused confusion and loss of trust in authorities and affected social security,� Sivin said.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a 4 million riel fine (about $1,000). Freedom of the press, assembly and expression are protected rights under the Cambodian Constitution.

Udom was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly inciting people to occupy land in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary within the province, and then sent to court on Thursday, provincial police chief Khov Ly said.

�He broadcasted to incite people to encroach land in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Cheab commune,� Ly told VOD on Thursday. �That is a crime and a red-handed crime.�

The arrest came as the Information Ministry revoked Udom�s media license, describing the reporter�s posts on Facebook as �exaggerated and inciting� news that violated professional standards and could cause violence, racism, insecurity and chaos in society.

On Monday, Udom posted to his Facebook page, Rithysen, about an alleged illegal construction in Kampong Chhnang City, which he claimed was owned by a Vietnamese national.

He then posted a video of a protest on Tuesday in Teok Phos district�s Cheab commune, in which residents accused provincial authorities of grabbing land within the wildlife sanctuary.

�We want to question whether the provincial governor held a meeting to take the land from people who rely on it,� Udom said in the 50-minute video. �What you are doing is tearing apart [the people�s] votes in support of the government.�

Before he was arrested on Wednesday, Udom accused law enforcement of nepotism and corruption in another Facebook post.

Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said officials at the Kampong Chhnang provincial information department had warned Udom several times previously about his news broadcasts.

�After he was educated, we still have seen his broadcasts go against the code of journalism ethics, [and] violate the contract upheld by the Information Ministry and provincial information department,� Sophorn said. �So the ministry decided to cancel his license.�

Udom acquired a media license for the radio station in 2014 and for his website in 2018.

Mam Chhoeum, director of the provincial information department, referred questions to Phos Sovann, director of the ministry�s department of information and broadcasting, who could not be reached for comment.

Yon Sineat, a board member of CamboJA, an independent journalists� association that includes VOD staff on its board, said the Information Ministry�s decision to revoke Udom�s license before he was charged with a crime sent a threatening message to journalists reporting on the government and officials.

�Any media outlet that tries to critically report [on the government] in order to improve and develop society, provide accurate information for the benefit of the public and their ability to make decisions, or criticize in a constructive way, is not often welcomed [by the government],� she said. �Instead, they are frequently suppressed and threatened, leading to the imprisonment of some reporters. That is a direct threat to press freedom.�

Last month, the Information Ministry revoked licenses from two other online news outlets.

The online news outlet TVFB lost its license after its editor-in-chief, Sovann Rithy, quoted an excerpt from a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen in which he said struggling motorbike taxi drivers should sell their vehicles because the government could not afford to help them through the ongoing economic slowdown. Rithy was also jailed on incitement charges.

At the end of the month, news website CKV TV Online, which is owned by Chan Rithy, also lost its media license after the Information Ministry said it violated its contract and professional standards.

Cambodia ranked 144th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders� 2020 World Press Freedom Index, slipping one place from its rating last year.

On 15 May 2020, Sok Udom, media worker, was arrested by the police over false charges for covering alleged land-grabbing on protected areas in Tuek Phos District, Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia.

We the undersigned groups decry the harassment of community representatives from across Cambodia on Tuesday, April 28. These community representatives were arbitrarily detained for seven hours and interrogated while trying to submit a petition asking for additional government assistance to vulnerable communities during the Covid-19 crisis. More than 30 community representatives from across Cambodia gathered in Phnom Penh to submit the petition, which has life-saving requests such as asking the government to distribute medical supplies to vulnerable communities; suspend debts from microfinance institutions (MFIs) and private money lenders; and provide direct economic assistance, including suspending rental fees for poor and informal workers and providing stay-at-home payments. During this process, community representatives were repeatedly asked by authorities, including police officers, what organisations were �behind� this petition, who authored the petition, and were questioned about whether they really faced the problems listed. Many questions focused on the community members� microfinance debt, and some representatives were asked about their personal financial situation and were required to provide proof of debts to MFIs to district authorities. At least two community representatives were additionally summonsed and harassed after they returned home to their communities by local authorities. These interrogations are insulting and appear predicated on the mistrust of vocal communities who actively exercise their right to freely express themselves. They ignore the reality that independent communities across Cambodia have advocated for their rights for decades, in particular around crucial issues such as land rights. This harassment is unjustified and should never have taken place, particularly when the Interior Ministry has repeatedly claimed that grassroots communities have the right to conduct activities free from disturbance and in accordance with the law. On the morning of April 28, community representatives gathered in Phnom Penh but were denied permission to submit the petition to the Council of Ministers. They were instead directed by authorities to Prime Minister Hun Sen�s Cabinet, but officials there declined to accept the petition because it was addressed to the Council of Ministers. Copies were successfully delivered to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Economy and Finance. The petition was signed by 141 communities across the country and seeks to address the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 virus, which disproportionately affect vulnerable communities in rural areas as well as Phnom Penh. It notes that government schemes such as ID Poor are not yet comprehensive or fully effective, and encourages the government to take a more holistic approach to fighting the economic impact of the virus. It also includes a call for an immediate halt on all evictions during the Covid-19 crisis in order to protect community members and authorities from the virus. After meeting with authorities and police officers at Hun Sen�s Cabinet, nine community members were asked by officials to discuss the petition further at the Daun Penh district office at around 3:00 p.m. They were detained in the district office for more than 7 hours, denied permission to leave and were never provided legal justification for their detention. During their detention, they faced interrogation from authorities until after 10:00 p.m. Some representatives were deliberately singled out and questioned individually, and then had answers compared to other representatives � interrogation techniques more

commonly used on criminals, not peaceful petitioners. Some representatives were also ordered to unlock and hand over their smartphones, and were questioned repeatedly about who authored the petition, as well as their personal financial relationships with MFIs. At the end of the interrogation, community representatives were coerced into thumbprinting documents that seek to restrict their right to continue advocating on behalf of their communities prior to being allowed to leave the district office. These community representatives should have been welcomed by their government and treated with dignity while they shared the legitimate concerns of tens of thousands of community members across Cambodia. The community representatives set out with the intention to inform their government about the problems in their communities and never demanded anything other than that their requests be considered in the government�s response to Covid-19. We strongly decry their treatment at the hands of authorities.

On 28 April 2020, seven community-based defenders were temporarily detained, interrogated by the police for asking the Government additional COVID-19-related assistance measures in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Environmental activists patrolling Prey Lang forest in Cambodia�s central plains said Thursday that authorities interfered with their work and even tried to arrest them after they documented a local company conducting extensive illegal logging in the protected area.

A group known as Lovers of the Environment, which is mostly comprised of youth activists, launched a campaign on Wednesday to drive their motorbikes through Prey Lang�s wildlife sanctuary areas of O�Anamai, O�Romany, O�Krak, O�Sgnuot, and Red Mountain over the course of five days to monitor for illegal logging activities.

Heng Sros, one of the group�s campaigners, told RFA�s Khmer Service on Thursday that over the course of just two days he saw �hundreds of people� in the forest illegally cutting down old-growth trees and transporting them to sawmills run by Think-Biotech Co., Ltd. on the outskirts of Prey Lang, where they were processed and sold for around U.S. $225 per cubic meter.

Meanwhile, felled logs lay unprocessed and awaiting transport throughout the areas the group monitored, he said.

But while Lovers of the Environment worked to document the illegal logging, according to Heng Sros, local authorities followed the group throughout the forest closely watching its activities and seemingly working in conjunction with forestry officials to try to arrest its members.

�The authorities not only didn�t stop the illegal loggers, but they tried to stop our activities and attempted to arrest us, even though we are defenders of the environment who have been working hard and sacrificing our lives to prevent Cambodia�s forests from disappearing,� he said.

�They should be ashamed. The authorities must guarantee that no one can cut down the supposedly �protected forest� areas of Prey Lang.�

In two days, he said his group located �more than 2,000 felled old-growth logs� in five different locations that it documented with photos and video�most of which are resin-producing trees that local residents rely on for their livelihood.

�We were looking specifically for giant trees aged hundreds of years old,� he said, adding that hired workers �used 100�200 trucks to transport the logs.�

�I interviewed the workers and they told me that they transport the logs to sell to Think-Biotech Co., Ltd. They said if they didn�t sell the logs to Think-Biotech, the authorities and forestry officials would seize them and they would have to pay a fine.�

Heng Sros suggested that authorities are �receiving bribes� from Think-Biotech to shadow his group and threaten them with arrest.

�Protect our remaining forests�

Repeated calls by RFA seeking comment on Heng Sros�s claims from Commission of National Prevention and Suppression Against Forest Crime spokesperson Eng Hy and Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Srey Vudh went unanswered Thursday.

However, Ministry of Environment spokesperson Neth Pheaktra told RFA that while it is the right of Lovers of the Environment to carry out their campaign, �the ministry [only] supports a properly registered nongovernmental organization conducting activities to protect natural resources,� suggesting the group should have first asked for permission to enter the forest from local authorities or the Interior Ministry.

Internationally-recognized environmental activist Leng Ouch, who is chairman of local watchdog Cambodian Human Rights Task Force and a member of the campaign against forest crimes, told RFA that members of his group are willing to lay down their lives to protect the country�s forests, which he called �the natural heritage of our ancestors.�

He appealed to all government authorities and members of the armed forces to protect the country�s remaining forests.

�We are not involved in any struggle or revolution for power�all we really want is to preserve and protect our remaining forests,� he said.

�We aren�t doing this for our own interests, but the [authorities] are taking action against us.�

Think-Biotech did not respond to repeated calls for comment on Thursday. Forest under attack

Prey Lang has been ravaged by deforestation caused by illegal logging, with much of the illicit timber smuggled outside the country. In a report released last year, the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) found that the area lost 56 square kilometers (22 square miles) of forest in 2017 alone.

In late February, masked, armed rangers deployed by the Ministry of Environment blocked hundreds of community members, monks, and environmental activists from entering parts of Prey Lang to join an annual tree-blessing ceremony organized by the PLCN to promote conservation efforts against deforestation.

Last week, Ida Theilade of the University of Copenhagen�s Faculty of Science, issued a statement saying that documentation compiled by PLCN that corresponds with satellite imagery from the EU Joint Research Centre and Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) - University of Maryland showed �increased illegal logging within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary� in recent months.

Based on weekly satellite imagery at a 30-meter (100-foot) resolution, GLAD issued approximately 1,000 forest loss alerts for Prey Lang per week since the beginning of 2020, Theilade said, noting that during one week at the end of February, when the Ministry of Environment controlled access to the forest, �the number of forest loss alerts spiked to more than 11,000.�

�We are concerned that the PLCN tree blessing ceremony was banned due to government sanctioned illegal logging of protected resin trees in the area,� the statement said.

�PLCN is still banned from entering the forest and is currently unable to conduct patrols and collect data on forest crimes, biodiversity and climate change. PLCN members can only watch as illegal loggers freely enter Prey Lang and convoys of trucks transport timber out of the forest.�

Anniversary of slaying

Also on Thursday, Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey, the son of slain Cambodian environmental activist Chut Wutty, told RFA his family plans to hold an event in Prey Lang forest on Sunday to commemorate the 8th anniversary of his father�s still-unsolved murder.

Shot to death on April 26, 2012 while investigating illegal logging in Koh Kong�s Mondul Seima district, Chut Wutty had been active in organizing communities to protect Cambodian forests against land grabs. He had also campaigned against the government�s granting of land concessions in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

During the commemoration ceremony, Chut Wutty�s family will demand justice from authorities as his killers have yet to be brought to justice, Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey said. They also plan to launch a social media campaign to remind the public about the activist�s work and sacrifice.

An official investigation into Chut Wutty�s death was closed in October 2013 when a court in Koh Kong province abruptly ended its proceedings, prompting Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey to vow at the time to continue to fight for justice in his father�s case.

On 22 April 2020, an undefined number of environmental defenders from the group "Lovers of the Environment", was threatened to be arrested by the police while documenting illegal logging in Prey Langi, Cambodia.

The editor-in-chief of popular online news outlet TVFB was jailed on Thursday on incitement charges in relation to a Facebook post in which he shared remarks made by Prime Minister Hun Sen this week about struggling informal workers.

Sovann Rithy, the founder and face of the Facebook-page-turned-licensed-news-outlet TVFB, now faces up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of 4 million riel ($1,000), if convicted on charges of incitement to commit a felony, according to a court statement.

The Information Ministry on Wednesday revoked TVFB�s broadcast license following Rithy�s arrest on Tuesday night.

The 31-year-old journalist is being detained in Phnom Penh�s PJ prison after he was accused by authorities of inciting social disorder with his Facebook post.

In the post, Rithy cited a quote from Hun Sen�s speech on Tuesday, in which the premier said informal-sector workers who were out of work during the coronavirus crisis would not receive economic assistance from the government.

�If the motodop driver goes bankrupt, he should sell his motorbike for spending [money]. The government has no ability to help,� the post says.

During his speech, Hun Sen said: �For those who have the ID poor card, the state will intervene. But as you asked me, motorbike-taxi drivers have asked if there is any solution. [They must] sell their motorbikes first for spending and buy rice to eat, because if they all come and ask for a solution, [we are going to] die. How could the state have this much money?�

�The state relies on taxes, and if we borrow money from foreign [countries] to pay unemployed people, we will die. No country is going to lend us money to pay for salaries,� the prime minister added.

Hun Sen said earlier in his speech that the government had little money for people working in the informal sector, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

�The government will die if we help motorcycle and taxi drivers. If you are bankrupt, sell the moto first. Why [you] keep the moto for your good looks,� he said, laughing, according to VOA.

On Wednesday, Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn told VOD that TVFB aired news that incited the public, and impacted public order and security.

�We have subsequently enforced the law against reporters at media outlets that are doing something against the law,� Sophorn said. �Having seen that the holder of this license had broadcast news that incited actions that are against the law, [the ministry] needs to enforce the law.�

The ministry was investigating other broadcast news outlets, according to Sophorn, but he did not specify which ones. In order to avoid losing licenses, the spokesman said outlets should properly cite sources, respect the law and maintain professionalism.

Following the ministry�s decision to pull TVFB�s license, the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia said in a statement that it would block two of TVFB�s URLs, tvfb.com.kh and fbtv.news. As of late Thursday, the latter site was accessible in Cambodia.

�A measure is a measure,� spokesman Im Vutha said on Wednesday. �So if you cannot see [the page], it was blocked.�

A TVFB representative could not be reached for comment.

Srey Sotheavy, executive director of the Alliance for Conflict Transformation, said the government�s actions against the news outlet were unacceptable, suggesting that authorities could have sent a warning or educated Rithy instead of doling out a harsh punishment.

�This is an act of expression, a broadcast that allows the audience to consider by themselves about the situation in society,� she said. �That this led to the closure [of TVFB] and a criminal charge [for Rithy] seems severe. This impacts individuals� rights of expression and press freedom.�

In 2018, the government ordered the Information and Telecommunications ministries to monitor and investigate businesses and broadcast news outlets for legal violations. In recent months, authorities have arrested about 20 people over social media posts related to the spread of Covid-19.

Daniel Bastard, head of Reporters Without Borders� (RSF) Asia-Pacific desk, on Wednesday called on the government to release Rithy and reinstate TVFB�s license.

�Imprisoning a journalist for quoting a statement by the prime minister word for word is more than absurd,� Bastard said in a statement. �The Covid-19 crisis must not be used as pretext for getting rid of journalists who do not blindly toe the government line.�

Cambodia is ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in RSF�s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

During a press conference on Thursday, the Information Ministry�s Sophorn told reporters that organizations that criticized the government�s actions were violating the nation�s legal jurisdiction �by making judgements about facts before the competent institutions in Cambodia.�

In his own Facebook post on Wednesday, Sovann Sokha, Rithy�s father, apologized on behalf of his son and asked the government to pardon Rithy.

�My son Sovann Rithy has made serious mistakes, and I, as his father, have not educated him properly so that he would not act this way,� Sokha says in a two-minute video.

�I am very regretful,� he adds. �Please forgive my son.�

On 8 April 2020, Sovann Rithy, media worker, was arrested by the police for making a comment critical of the Government on social media in Phom Penh, Cambodia.

At Kampong Speu province's Superl garment factory, Soy Sros does not just make handbags for international buyers. She has led her union branch for years, speaking up for members and tracking working conditions and labor violations on behalf of the 700 unionized workers at Superl, about half of the factory�s total employees.

So when managers posted a list of names of 88 workers who wouldn�t have their contracts renewed after the end of March due to dwindling handbag orders during the pandemic-driven economic slowdown, and all of them were members of her union, Sros made a serious effort to speak with factory management.

She said she spent the entire day of March 31 trying to talk to a human resources manager about the job losses, and when the administrator refused to talk, she took to Facebook that evening out of frustration.

�The owner of Superl factory defied the government�s recommendations as well as the appeal from the Ministry of Labor, because the company has ended employment contracts for not only normal workers but also a six-months-pregnant worker,� she wrote in a post.

Sros said she meant to ask the factory to retain workers by temporarily suspending them rather than ending their contracts, as officials had urged earlier this year in an effort to prevent job losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, Superl management filed a complaint against Sros that landed her in jail for nearly two months, in a case that labor advocates say has been insufficiently resolved.

The Superl (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. factory supplies handbags to international brands, including Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Kate Spade and others, according to union members and shipment data from the online trade tracker Panjiva. Superl and its sister factor, Siglo (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., are part of the Hong Kong-listed Superl Holdings Group.

In an interview this month, Sros said she thought she had a good working relationship with the factory�s management, but she suspected managers were surprised by the fact that she would post her grievances online, and that the post would draw such a large response from her coworkers.

Colleagues shared her post through the night, and the next morning, a Superl representative called her in for a meeting and told her that the workers would not be fired, just suspended for one month while demand for handbags was slow. The factory also wanted her to retract her Facebook post and state that she had written false information. While Sros did decide to take down the post, she refused to admit any wrongdoing.

�[Superl managers] asked me to sign a warning letter as well as sign another letter to accept that it was my fault, everything was my fault,� she told VOD. �They wanted everything back to normal, but I didn�t agree with them because everything I posted was based on what happened, based on facts.�

On April 2, Sros said she was called into the factory office to meet police officials, who arrested her and questioned her for about 48 hours before sending her to the Kampong Speu provincial prison on a charge of incitement to discriminate.

�I didn�t expect that the factory would do that to me,� she said at the Phnom Penh office of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the union that represents her factory. �I thought that we were partners and we worked together for everyone�s progress.�

While workers were temporarily suspended for a month, compensated for the suspension and brought back to work in late May, Sros was imprisoned for one month and 26 days. She said she slept in a cramped space up against other prisoners and was often sick while incarcerated.

�My parents were very upset and they had been stressed out and worried about me,� said Sros, who is a single mother of two, providing for both her children and parents. �They imagined how difficult life was over there, and also all my family is depending on me.�

Sros was released on bail in late May, but the charge against her is still pending. If convicted, she faces one to three years in prison and fines of up to 6 million riel ($1,500).

A Kampong Speu Provincial Court prosecutor declined to answer questions from VOD without being provided the name of the judge in charge of Sros� case.

Sros� lawyer declined to speak with VOD publicly and Sros could not be reached on Friday to confirm that she was still facing the charge.

But Khun Tharo, program manager at labor rights group Central, which has been following Sros� case, said the incitement charge against her had not been dropped and the case was still pending before an investigating judge.

International Appeals

Pav Sina, CUMW�s national president, described the court�s decision to release Sros on May 28 as a surprise. The day before, a Kampong Speu judge had denied Sros� request for bail, but the next day, prison authorities called CUMW and asked the union to pick up Sros from prison.

Sina said the sudden change was due to outside pressure. He had contacted four international labor rights groups � IndustriAll, Clean Clothes Campaign, Workers Rights Consortium and Solidarity Center � to assist with Sros� case.

�The campaign [to free Sros] would not have succeeded without international involvement,� he said. �As we see how it happens in Cambodia, the local legal system doesn�t work properly, so our union had been in touch with the big international organizations�[which] had pressured the big brands.�

Andrea Shaw Resnick, global head of investor relations and corporate communications for Tapestry, the parent firm of the Kate Spade and Coach brands, told VOD in an email on June 10 that Tapestry contacted Superl management in both Hong Kong and Cambodia.

Shaw Resnick said the company is looking into Sros� case and Superl Group has complied with requests for information, but Superl had denied allegations from Sros and the union that the company is targeting union workers.

�It is our understanding that Superl Cambodia and CUMW have met and discussed the incident directly,� she said. �We have also been told that they will meet together again, along with [the] worker at issue from the incident.�

In late April, Capri Holdings, the luxury fashion group that includes Superl buyer Michael Kors, announced in a press statement that it had signed the U.N. Global Compact, a pledge that businesses will uphold human and labor rights, including freedom of association, allowing effective collective bargaining and stopping discrimination in employment.

The company did not respond to emailed questions. When reporters tried to reach Superl management in Cambodia, a Chinese factory manager, who would not give his name, declined to comment.

Chek Borin, head of the Kampong Speu provincial labor department, also declined to answer questions, saying Sros� case was not under his jurisdiction.

Charges Remain in Place

Shortly after the union leader was released, the factory withdrew its complaint on June 3, and 10 days later Sros signed an agreement with Superl�s general manager, Chan Dao Zen, to drop the company�s criminal complaint to the Kampong Speu court and present the agreement between the company and union leader if Sros is called to court.

The document, viewed by reporters, grants Sros almost all of her demands: She resumed work, was given back pay and was promised that the company would not discriminate against her, though she did not receive damages.

The labor incident between Sros and Superl comes a few months before the E.U.�s decision to partially withdraw Cambodia�s �Everything But Arms� (EBA) duty-free trade benefits with the bloc is set to go into effect in August, in part due to labor rights abuses.

In its February decision, the European Commission said that open criminal and civil cases against labor activists and union leaders are infringing on workers� rights and �should be resolved without delay.�

William Conklin, Solidarity Center�s country director, said the travel goods sector, which includes handbags like those made at Superl, is fairly new to Cambodia after a U.S. duty-free trade scheme was extended to travel goods produced in the country in 2016. He said he hoped that brands would take Sros� case seriously.

Getting her job back and back pay does not address what she had to go through, according to Conklin.

�The fact that [the dispute] has seemingly been resolved is a good outcome, but she spent two months in jail and she had health issues, and it would be a traumatic experience for anyone,� he said.

On 1 April 2020, Soy Sros, labour rights defender, was prosecured, arrested by the police for complaining about collective lay-off due to COVID-19 in Chbar Mon, Cambodia.

Noted environmentalist Ouch Leng and three activists were arrested and detained in Kratie province on Friday, with the court continuing to question the four over possible charges relating to “breaking and entering a dwelling.”

The Kratie Provincial Court questioned the four environmental activists on Sunday after Sambo district police arrested them when they were investigating illegal logging inside the Think Biotech land concession in the Prey Lang protected area.

The four activists are Ouch Leng, head of the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force and the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner; Khem Soky and Srey Thei, from the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN); and Men Mat, who was physically assaulted by company workers while inside the Think Biotech compound on March 13.

Soeng Senkaruna, an investigator with rights group Adhoc, said the four activists were questioned by two prosecutors all day Sunday, which may continue into Monday.

He said a brief meeting with Ouch Leng revealed that prosecutors were questioning the activist in relation to Article 229 of the Criminal Code, for “breaking and entering into dwelling place” and Article 360 relating to “theft” under aggravating circumstances.

“Yes, we met Ouch Leng for a lunch break. He told us that the prosecutor had asked him about two articles of the Penal Code, Articles 299 and 360, including one about the [NGO] Association Law,” Sen Karuna said.

While the four activists have not been officially charged with a crime, Article 299 holds an up to one-year prison sentence, whereas the more serious charge of theft under aggravating circumstances holds a prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.

Aggravating circumstances under Article 360 requires for “violence intentionally causing the death of the victim,” though police and government officials have not indicated any death in the activists’ attempt to uncover illegal logging operations in the concession.

VOA Khmer could not reach representatives at Think Biotech or officials at Kratie Provincial Court.

Chhay Kim Khoeun, spokesperson for the National Police, did not provide additional details about the arrest, but only confirmed that police officers were working on the case and would provide information later.

“We don’t know if they are legal environmentalists or community officials, and have no paper to prove it yet,” he said.

Activists from several NGOs, including monks, congregated outside the Kratie court over the weekend, requesting the release of the four activists.

Nay Vanda, director of rights NGO coalition CHRAC, said he had been monitoring the peaceful protests and marches calling for the release of the four activists.

“While we are monitoring the interrogation process, there are environmental activists and youth activists marching around Kratie's markets and towns calling for their release,” Nay Vanda said.

On Saturday, 24 independent civil society representatives released a joint statement on the arrest of the activists, calling the physical assault by Think Biotech security guards an “abuse of power,” calling for the company to be held responsible for the attack.

The civil society groups also said they viewed these arrests as “a threat to environmental and forest activists, who are peacefully monitoring and reporting on deforestation activities in Prey Lang and other forested areas,” adding that Cambodian laws encouraged citizens to actively participate in the protection of natural resources.

On 13 March 2020, four Cambodian environmental HRDs and NGO staff were beaten and interrogated by the personnel of a logging company for investigating possible illegal logging inside the company's compound, and later arrested, temporarily detained by the police and questioned again by a court of Kratie Province, Cambodia.

A labor union representing garment factory workers on Tuesday demanded authorities find five masked men who attacked a local union officer in Phnom Penh, leaving him bloodied and in need of stitches.

Soeung Pros, deputy president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union’s (CCAWDU) chapter at the W&D garment factory, was hospitalized on Monday after the daylight assault in front of the factory in Meanchey district, according to a union statement.

“CCAWDU would like to condemn the perpetrators and the accomplices, and ask all related authorities including the court to clearly investigate the case to find justice for the victim,” the union said.

Pros, who has led union protests in the past, was attacked from behind during his lunch break by a man wielding a belt and four others. The unionist was knocked to the ground and sustained cuts to his head resulting in three stitches, the statement said.

He is being treated at the capital’s Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.

About 900 fired W&D workers returned to work in March last year after Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly demanded their reinstatement, ending a nearly three-month labor dispute that stemmed from demands for unpaid seniority benefits.

Hun Sen had earlier called workers’ demands and related strikes “illegal.” More than 1,000 workers were fired in January 2019 for striking after the company had declined to pay seniority bonuses that workers claimed they were owed.

Pros told VOD that while one man beat him with the metal buckle of a belt, another holding a metal bar stood nearby, but didn’t attack him.

All five men wore surgical masks covering their faces. After the beatdown, they drove away on two motorbikes, with the drivers also wearing helmets, he said.

Pros said he wasn’t sure who would attack him, since he had never had an argument with anyone.

“I don’t know how to draw a conclusion because I am just a workers’ representative,” he said.

Em Pheary, police chief for Steung Meanchey III commune, said authorities received information about the case on Tuesday and were looking into it, including checking if there were cameras at the scene.

“We need the victim to clarify so it is easy for authorities to investigate. If we don’t cover all bases, how can we investigate?” Pheary said.

Cambodian Labor Confederation president Ath Thorn said police were “skilled enough” to arrest the assailants by checking footage from nearby surveillance cameras that could be used as evidence.

He considered the assault against Sros just another threat against the apparel workers’ union stemming from Sros’ previous protests and defense of workers’ rights at the W&D factory.

“It is another unjust act,” Thorn said. “If violence happens, it affects the government’s effort in improving the condition of labor rights in Cambodia.”

On 11 February 2020, Soeung Pros, local union leader, was brutally attacked and injured by masked men in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Hundreds of community members, environmental activists, monks and civil society members were stopped by authorities from entering parts of the Prey Lang protected forest this afternoon. Several different groups of participants were stopped while traveling to the intended site of an annual Buddhist ceremony, which is held to raise awareness about illegal logging and conservation of Cambodia’s largest protected area.

Authorities from the Environment Ministry and local officials, some armed with guns, told several different groups across four provinces that they required permission from a “higher level” to be allowed to enter the forest and asked for “official permission letters” from participants. Such permission is not required by law.

Several participants also reported that local authorities threatened local villagers to pressure them not to allow participants to sleep in their villages during their travel or participate in the ceremony, which lasts for several days.

In contrast to today’s actions, just last week 500 officials from the Environment Ministry held an event in Prey Lang and encouraged youth activists and community members to take action in order to help conserve the forest, which spans Kratie, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces.

Community members were previously forced to cancel the annual event in 2018 due to threats from authorities. At the time, an Environment Ministry spokesperson said those fears were unfounded and told local media that his ministry would collaborate to protect the forest.

On 21 February 2020, a large group of community-based and envorinmental defenders was prevented by the police upon order of the Ministry of Environment from staging a ceremony to raise awareness on illegel logging in Prey Lang, Cambodia.

A court in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh has rejected a request by two former RFA reporters to return their passports and identifying documents after an appellate court ruled last week to continue a reinvestigation into espionage charges against them, according to their lawyer.

Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin—who had worked as an editor, reporter and news anchor, and a photographer and videographer for RFA’s Khmer Service, respectively—were taken into custody in November 2017.

They were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source” after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year.

In a written verdict dated Jan. 28, which RFA’s Khmer Service obtained a copy of on Monday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Pich Vicheathor ruled that the court will not return the passports or identification cards of the two former RFA reporters as the reinvestigation into their charges continues.

Pich Vicheathor said that his decision was also made in accordance with recommendations by the prosecutor to dismiss the reporters’ request, which was filed by their defense lawyer, Sam Chamroeun, two weeks earlier in a bid to “reduce the illegal restrictions on their freedoms” after an appellate court removed their obligation of judicial supervision.

Sam Chamroeun told RFA Monday that he does not agree with the judge’s decision, saying that any confiscated items that are not being used as evidence should be returned to their owners, and that refusing to return their documents “seriously affects their ability to seek justice.”

“As of now there is no separate order to restrict their freedoms besides the past verdict that placed them under judicial supervision,” he noted.

“While they are not obligated to be kept under judicial supervision, the judge still decided not to return their passports and ID cards, which serve no purpose as evidence. Such a decision undeniably affects the justice of the case and affects the freedom of my clients.”

Sam Chamroeun said that in more than 15 years of work as an attorney he had never once seen a judge ruling to keep confiscated items that are irrelevant to a case, and especially not when the accused are no longer being kept under judicial supervision.

He urged the court to reconsider and return the reporters’ passports and identification cards immediately.

Reporters speak

Speaking to RFA on Monday, Yeang Sothearin said there is no need for the court to hold his documents because they do not constitute evidence of the charges against him and vowed to appeal the decision.

“The judge seemingly does not want to give back our freedom,” he said.

“I am not sure if he is angry with us about a certain issue. The judge should have leniently ruled on our cases and given us complete freedom. There is no advancement in the investigation process. They should have provided us back with our freedom so that we may enjoy our rights as normal citizens.”

Uon Chhin said he is disappointed with the decision, saying it indicates that his freedom remains restricted, despite being out on bail, and adding that he also plans to appeal the ruling.

“I’m very disappointed with this ruling which, in effect, means we both are still under judicial supervision,” he said.

“There is nothing different from being under judicial supervision if our passports and ID cards have not been returned.”

Local rights group and spokesperson for ADHOC Soeung Senkarona said he believes the court’s intent is to restrict the freedom of the two and called the decision a form of “discrimination.”

He said that the court should not keep the documents of the reporters because they have fully cooperated with the court throughout all stages of their trial.

“Their passports and ID cards are no longer necessary for the procedure of the court unless the two intend to escape and not to appear per summons from competent authorities or the court,” he said.

“In complete contrast, we see that the two have shown intentions of good cooperation with authorities and the court.”

Soeung Senkarona urged the court to accelerate a hearing on the merit of their case and if no sufficient evidence is presented, the court should “drop their cases and unconditionally render complete freedom for the two.”

High profile case

The two face charges of “illegally collecting information for a foreign source,” under Article 445 of the Criminal Code—an offense punishable by a prison term of from seven to 15 years. Additional charges were added in March 2018, alleging that the two men had illegally produced pornography.

On Dec. 30, the court rejected an appeal by the two reporters to halt a reinvestigation into the pornography case, allowing a new investigation into those charges to proceed.

RFA closed its nearly 20-year-old bureau in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12, 2017 amid a crackdown by the government that also saw the Supreme Court dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) a month later.

The move paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to sweep the ballot in national elections in 2018, effectively turning Cambodia into a one-party state.

Cambodian journalists working for RFA had reported over the years on corruption, illegal logging, and forced evictions, among other stories largely ignored by pro-government media, and authorities had already closed independent radio stations carrying RFA reports, using a pretext of tax and administrative violations.

The arrest of Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin came after a warning from Cambodia’s Ministries of Information and Interior that any journalists still working for RFA after its office in the capital closed would be treated as spies.

They were released on bail in August 2018, but were placed under court supervision, which barred them from changing their addresses or traveling abroad, and required them to check in with their local police station once a month.

Local and international rights groups and legal observers have long condemned the treatment of the pair in the courts as part of a wider attack on the media and civil society in Cambodia and called for the country's trade and aid partners to press for their release.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 143rd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

On 28 January 2020, Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin, journalists, were rejected the request to obtain their passports and national ID while under trial by the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Three land rights activists say they were beaten at the Banteay Meanchey provincial military police headquarters alongside a fellow detainee who later died after being transferred to the provincial prison.

Tuy Sros, 34, and four others were arrested on December 28 amid a protest in front of the provincial hall over a land dispute. Four days later, on January 1, Sros died while being transported from the prison to a hospital, according to local authorities and his family.

The provincial administration, in a statement dated January 1, claimed Sros had died from alcohol withdrawal.

But three of the four surviving detainees — An Ruon, Nov Noeun and Him Kiry — have since asked rights group Adhoc for legal help so they can take the military police to court, alleging violence at the hands of officers.

The five activists were “handcuffed and pushed into a car, and beaten, and pushed, necks twisted and beaten in the face,” Noeun told VOD on Sunday. “All five of us were pushed into a car and then dropped off in front of a flagpole. I supposed that we would stand to honor the national flag. We were made to sit in front of the flagpole. Then they lined us up and started kicking each of us three or four times. Me, they kicked three times and they added another punch and I lost a part of my tooth.”

Ruon, another of the activists, told VOD that the military police’s deputy provincial commander, Sar Bunsoeung, had ordered his subordinates to beat all five for answers. Noeun and Kiry made the same claim.

“They beat me repeatedly, bleeding all over my head. I got a cut on my eyelids from the beatings. They kneed me, kneed on the spine and dragged and beat me on the head, and then put a helmet on me, then dragged and twisted my neck,” Ruon said.

Sros’s wife Buy Kimlak and Yib Mak, the fifth detainee, could not be reached about why they had not joined the three others in seeking legal representation.

Kimlak, however, earlier told VOD that her husband’s corpse had bruises all over it. She had also visited him in prison after he was transferred from the military police headquarters to the provincial prison on December 31, and he was weak and barely conscious, she said.

She denied that he was unhealthy or an alcoholic, as the provincial administration claimed.

“He was a good man and very smart. He didn’t have any problems. He was working in business every day, buying chickens every day. And he went on patrol and patrolled every day because he was a village security guard,” Kimlak said.

Authorities passed responsibility between each other.

National military police spokesman Eng Hy denied the abuse accusations, saying the provincial military police headquarters had nothing to do with the alleged violence.

“I’ve already said that this case is not within the jurisdiction of the military police. This case is within the jurisdiction of the provincial authorities and therefore the provincial authorities can explain it,” Hy said.

Ung Siphan, director of the provincial prison, said Sros’s death had nothing to do with his prison.

Prison was not a place for forcing answers out of suspects; prison was just a place to hold people while waiting for court processes, he said.

“No, brother. We didn’t touch him. Frankly, we have thousands of prisoners coming in and out, and till now there’s no such history — we’ve never touched any prisoner,” Siphan said.

Provincial police chief Ath Khem said police were not involved in the case.

Bunsoeung, the deputy commander accused of ordering the violence, could not be reached for comment. Born Bin, provincial military police commander, could not be reached over five days. Banteay Meanchey governor Um Reatrey also could not be reached.

Adhoc provincial coordinator Soum Chankea said he had received the request for legal help from the three activists and would be preparing legal representation for them.

On December 28, about 200 protesters from Changha commune in O’Chrou district gathered in the provincial capital to claim that security forces had burned down villagers’ homes two days earlier. Sros’s wife, Kimlak, said about 200 families had been accused of encroaching on state land and were facing violence at the hands of authorities.

However, the provincial hall statement of January 1 said authorities had visited the families on December 16 to educate them that they had been cheated by brokers and were occupying privately owned land held by several different individuals. On December 26, the administration sent security forces “to crack down on the anarchic group and dismantle huts (which did not have people living in them, and were not houses).”

The group began to protest on the 27th and continued the next day, it said.

The five arrested activists were charged with intentional violence, with the four surviving men released on bail earlier this month.

On 1 January 2020, five detained community-based and land rights defenders were beaten by the military police, one was beaten to death while in custody in Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia.

Sath Chanbuth, a Rasmei Kampuchea Daily and Apsara TV journalist, appeared for questioning on Monday at the Mondulkiri provincial court on allegations of incitement and defamation in line with a lawsuit filed by Lieutenant Colonel Sophat Serivuthy.

The defendant was questioned by Mondulkiri provincial court prosecutor Eang Sokun over a video he released where he interviewed about 10 indigenous families of O’Raing district’s Dak Dam commune who accused Serivuthy of planting fence posts in an attempt to grab their land.

“The court must conduct a proper [and fair] investigation. I disseminated correct information and have a reliable source from among the residents,” Chanbuth said.

Mondulkiri provincial court prosecutor Mam Vanda said the questioning was a primary procedure to collect further evidence regarding the allegations filed by the plaintiff.

“We questioned him because we wanted to collect evidence regarding the complaint. We allowed relevant parties to show evidence. The defendant can testify and the plaintiff has the burden to prove the defendant’s guilt.

“A summons is a procedure of the court. But I don’t know yet when the court will summon him. We’ll have to check his testimony first,” he said.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Seng Singheng told The Post on Monday that in July this year, Chanbuth allegedly disseminated false information accusing his client of land encroachment. Serivuthy was said to have asked Chanbuth to amend his report and take down the video but the latter refused to do so.

“I expect the court will process it in accordance with the legal procedure,” he said.

Alliance of Cambodian Journalists (CamboJa) founder May Titthara said the plaintiff should have issued a statement to correct the report instead of taking the matter to court.

He said legal action against journalists posed a threat to freedom of the press.

“As a journalist, he [Chanbuth] must find relevant documents and credible sources to support his allegations [against Serivuthy]. He should also seek legal advice from a lawyer,” Titthara said.

Serivuthy could not be reached for comment.

On 2 December 2019, Sath Chanbuth, journalist, was summoned for questioning after reporting a land grabbing case affecting IP by the Court of Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.

The Cambodian authorities should immediately drop fabricated incitement charges against two former Cambodia Daily journalists, Human Rights Watch said today.

On December 13, the Rattanakiri provincial court set December 25 as the first trial date for Aun Pheap, 55, and Zsombor Peter, 41. Neither currently live in Cambodia. Their lawyer said he had never received notification from the court that the investigation had been completed and a trial was imminent.

“The decision to take Pheap and Peter’s case to trial seems intended to intimidate all of Cambodia’s journalists,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Prosecutors should drop these bogus charges and the government should end its efforts to restrict press freedom by criminalizing independent reporting.”

On August 28, 2017, the Rattanakiri provincial prosecutor filed “incitement to commit a felony” charges against both journalists. If convicted under articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code, they face up to two years in prison. Aun Pheap had been working as a reporter and Zsombor Peter as a reporter and associate editor at the Cambodia Daily. Both left Cambodia because of fears of being arbitrarily arrested and detained.

The case arose out of Pheap and Peter’s interviews with registered voters in Rattanakiri province prior to the Pate commune council elections on June 4, 2017. In 2012, Pate had been the only commune in the province that elected opposition political party candidates, leading local officials to tell journalists not to interview local residents. When Pheap and Peter refused the demand, the officials accused them of inciting voters to support the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

In June 2017, Pheap and Peter won the Excellence in Investigative Reporting award from the Society of Publishers in Asia for their reporting on military involvement in Cambodia’s illegal timber trade. Both had frequently written about illegal logging and government corruption in Rattanakiri and other provinces in Cambodia.

Government harassment of independent journalists has increased over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said. In July, Rattanakiri provincial authorities issued a letter demanding that all journalists report to them with identification and inform officials of their intentions before reporting on any stories in the province, VOD reported.

Two Radio Free Asia journalists, Uon Chin and Yeang Sothearin, continue to face baseless espionage charges, after being arbitrarily arrested and detained in 2017. While they were released under judicial supervision, the charges have not been dropped. On October 3, a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict them, but instead of dismissing the case, sent it back for re-investigation. On January 20, 2020, the Court of Appeal will hear Chin’s and Sothearin’s appeals of that decision.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government has attacked and shut down independent media outlets. In September 2017, the Cambodia Daily, one of the country’s longstanding independent local newspapers, was forcibly shut after being handed a dubious unpaid tax bill of US$6.3 million. In May 2018, the government coerced the sale of the last independent local newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post, to a Malaysian businessman with reported ties to the Cambodian government by imposing a similarly questionable unpaid tax bill of US$3.9 million. The newspaper was subsequently transferred to a ruling Cambodian People’s Party member.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) closed its office in Phnom Penh in September 2017, after 20 years of operations in Cambodia, citing threats to its staff. A few days after RFA’s office closure, the Interior Ministry threatened journalists who had worked for RFA with legal action if they continued reporting for RFA.

“Cambodia’s persecution of journalists is sending a message that independent, investigative reporting is not only unwelcome, but could get you thrown in jail,” Robertson said. “The European Union and other foreign governments should publicly call for these charges to be dismissed and urge the government to allow journalists to do their jobs without harassment.”

On 13 December 2019, two former journalist were scheduled the first trial date of a criminal case on fabricated charges by the local court of Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.

Six representatives of villagers involved in a long-running land dispute with a sugar company in Koh Kong have been summoned for questioning again by the provincial court over disputed allegations brought by tycoon Heng Huy.

The six were initially summoned along with four others earlier this year over a complaint filed by Huy, who accused them of public defamation and incitement to commit a felony. Four of the 10 have been questioned while the six others asked for a delay at the time.

They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

Koh Kong Provincial Court prosecutor Ros Saram summoned three people to appear for questioning on December 17, and the other three on the following day, in court documents dated November 18 and received by the six representatives on Wednesday, said Chhan Chhoeun, one of the six.

Chhoeun told VOD on Friday that he was ready to testify in court as scheduled. He was not worried because he had done nothing wrong, he said.

“I will tell the court what the reality is. Mr. Heng Huy’s company really encroached on people’s land. How did I defame him?” Chhoeun said. “I only spoke about our land being encroached on.”

Chhoeun said 197 families from Sre Ambel district lost their land because Heng Huy Agriculture Group had encroached on their plots since 2007.

Huy could not be reached for comment.

Another land disputant representative, Ith Toeng, said it was unjust for the court to call villagers for questioning based on Huy’s complaint. He had encroached on people’s land, she said.

“The court seems to be biased in favor of an oknha, while hundreds of people, it has never investigated. [The court] never came to ask for the location of the people’s land but instead believed in the tycoon alone,” Toeng said.

She called on the government to resolve the land dispute and asked the court to consider canceling the summonses.

“I asked the court to clearly inspect before issuing summonses for us to see whether we really have a land dispute with Mr. Heng Huy or not, and please drop accusations against the 10 villagers,” she said.

Pen Vuthea, a monitor with human rights group Licadho in Koh Kong, said the summonses were a threat to keep people from protesting over their lost land.

In order to show concern for people, the government must resolve the dispute soon, and the court should drop the charges against the 10 representatives, otherwise people will continue to protest, Vuthea said.

“For the authorities, if there are still people protesting and going up to Phnom Penh to find a solution, it looks like the government is not finding a solution for people who are the landowners and have lost their land,” he said.

More than 300 people from Koh Kong protested in Phnom Penh this week, calling on the ministries of interior and land management to resolve their land disputes with companies that were granted concessions by the government, including Heng Huy.

In July, the Land Management Ministry rejected the claims of about 100 Koh Kong land protesters who demonstrated outside the ministry in Phnom Penh, and requested that legal action be taken against them.

On 18 November 2019, six community-based and land rights defenders were summoned in a defamation and incitement case promoted by a sugarcane company before the court of Koh Kong, Cambodia.

Two VOD journalists were detained for three hours at the Poipet military police headquarters on Saturday after reporting on border security in the area.

CNRP acting president Sam Rainsy had vowed to attempt a return to Cambodia via Thailand that day, leading to the deployment of armed forces to the Thai border as well as dozens of arrests of CNRP supporters in the lead up.

Rainsy only got as far as Kuala Lumpur on November 9.

VOD reporter Vann Vichar said he and cameraman Chorn Chanren were detained by military police from about 3 to 6 p.m.

Officers went through all his equipment, including communications on his phone between him and his wife, Vichar said.

“After detaining me for about half an hour, they separated me from Chanren. They brought me to a room to question me and check my laptop and smartphone, going through all messages, group conversations and files,” he said.

“They listened to voice chats. After questioning, they wrote reports to send to their superiors. I don’t know how high it went,” Vichar added.

Poipet city governor Keat Hul and Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey declined to comment on the detentions. Poipet city military police commander Nuon Ninaro hung up on a reporter when contacted by VOD.

Information Ministry spokesmen Phos Sovann, Meas Sophorn and Ouk Kimseng could not be reached.

Ninaro, the military police commander, told Khmer Times that his officers had suspected the two journalists of being “involved” with Rainsy’s supporters.

“We just called them for questioning and then allowed them to go back,” Ninaro said.

In a statement on Sunday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, whose co-founders include VOD editors, said the journalists had at the time been interviewing fish sellers frustrated at being unable to cross the border.

The association’s executive director, May Titthara, added that the detentions amounted to a threat.

“The government and authorities must guarantee the rights of journalists by allowing them to report the news without fear,” Titthara said.

Cambodian Center for Human Rights coordinator Vann Sophath, who was also at the Poipet border at the time to monitor the situation, said journalists have the right to cover events happening in public places.

“Freedom of the press in Cambodia is not yet being broadly respected to an international standard,” Sophath said.

In recent years, Cambodia has steadily declined in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, falling from 137th worldwide in 2017 to 142nd last year and 143rd this year.

On 9 November 2019, two Cambodian journalists were temporarily detained and questioned by the police due to their coverage of a public event in Poipet, Cambodia.

A Cambodian judge Thursday ordered a reinvestigation in the espionage case against two former Radio Free Asia journalists, saying he could not rule on their guilt or innocence without enough evidence.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Im Vannak ordered the new investigation on the day he was scheduled to deliver a verdict in the case against the two reporters, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin.

The 2-year-old case has added to concerns about a crackdown on criticism and dissent by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who extended his rule of more than three decades in a general election last year after the main opposition party leader was arrested on treason charges and his party banned.

In a statement, John Lansing - the out-going CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, the agency that oversees RFA and other U.S. international broadcasters such as VOA - called the court's action "unacceptable" and said the international community should respond accordingly.

"While these continuing acts of intimidation and repression are meant to instill fear, they only underscore USAGM'sresolutesupport forits journalists and networks, including RFA," Lansing's statement read. "Together, we will continue to provide the Cambodian people with accurate, objective and professional journalism and to shine a light on the political and humanitarian crises facing the country."

The two former reporters for Washington-based RFA were arrested in November 2017 and charged with espionage and producing pornography. They denied the charges.

Hun Sen has accused the United States of trying to end his rule.

RFA earlier in 2017 shut down its Phnom Penh office complaining of a “relentless crackdown on independent voices.”

On 3 October 2019, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, two detained journalists, did not receive the expected court verdict, but the judge ordered further investigation on the 2 years old case, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

On 3 September 2019 at 8h30 am, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court has unfairly summoned Mr. Pen Bunnar ADHOC Senior Officer to appear. He is accused for “incitement to commit crimes On June 2017, Seda’s community required the support of ADHOC concerning a land issue. Indeed, the community was trying to prevent land clearing in the Lumphat district and ADHOC is providing a legal support to the communities with their land rights issues in the course of a program financed by USAID. On June 22 and 23, 2017, the communities tried to obtain help from the authorities with the monitoring and support of ADHOC represented by Mr. Pen Bunn. Then considering the lack of interest concerning this case from the government, they determined that the legal way was the best option to solve this issue. Mr Pen Bunnar and other community members have lodged a complaint against the land clearers but the court refused to take its responsibilities in this case. Instead, a lawsuit was launched Mr Pen Bunnar the ADHOC’s member that was supporting communities.”. Tomorrow convocation is for the second trial since the defendant have been already summoned by the investigating judge Mr Sreng Simsorya on 12 August 2019. On the first trial, where Mr Pen Bunn wasn’t present or represented because he couldn’t hire a lawyer and come to Phnom Pen in time (he got informed very late). During this first court, a few community members lied, under the pressure of the trial, and told the court that Mr Pen Bunn he was encouraging people to clear the lands. In exchange, the accusers received the right to use the cleared land from the court. ADHOC is very concerned that Mr Pen Bunnar could face charges and/or arrest and detention under Article 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. This is a basic and vicious attempt to attack a defender of human rights and a violation of community’s rights. This trial is placed under the mark of corruption and is threatening a dedicated human right advocate from our organization. We call upon local, regional and international partners, embassies and UN representatives to intervene before the situation continues to deteriorate.

On 3 September 2019, Mr. Pen Bunnar, ADHOC's senior Officer , was summoned for incitement by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court in Cambodia, in response to a complaint he lodged on a land grabbing case.

Two outspoken critics of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen are to be dragged to court this month on vague charges of "incitement to commit a crime," but the defendants say they have done nothing illegal. Prominent activist monk Luon Sovath received a summons dated Oct. 22 and signed by Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Meas Chanpeseth accusing him of "incitement to commit crimes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and abroad" in 2011, under Penal Code article 495. U.S.-based Cambodian dissident Sourn Serey Ratha, who leads the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM)-a group labeled a terrorist organization by Phnom Penh-received a similar summons from the court dated the same day, also accusing him of incitement in 2011 in the Cambodian capital and abroad. Neither of the summonses, which ordered the two men to appear in court together in the capital on Nov. 25, specified what crimes they had incited or how their cases were linked. Under the Penal Code, incitement is vaguely defined in article 495 as directly provoking the commission of a crime or an act that creates "serious turmoil in society" through public speech, writings or drawings, or audio-visual telecommunication. The warrant sent to Sourn Serey Ratha also accused him of "creating a disturbance against voters" and "conspiracy" in the run up to the July 2013 general elections and beyond, though it did not elaborate on what acts the charges were related to. Prior to ballot, the KPPM had printed T-shirts with slogans urging the public not to vote amid allegations of widespread irregularities. In August 2013, the group had distributed leaflets calling on the Cambodian armed forces to turn their guns against the country's "dictator" instead of against mostly opposition supporters protesting over the disputed general elections. Luon Sovath faces up to five years in prison if convicted, while Sourn Serey Ratha faces a total maximum punishment of 15 years. Luon Sovath told RFA Monday that he would attend the hearing and said local nongovernmental organizations had provided him with two lawyers for his defense, but he questioned why he was facing criminal charges. "What is meant by an incitement to commit crimes?" he asked. "In Buddhism, incitement means to provoke people to kill, rob or lie, but what I have done? Has anyone seen me incite people?" Luon Sovath said that he had attended a United Nations conference in New York in 2011 where he met Sourn Serey Ratha "but I was not involved with what he does in the U.S.," referring to his group's aim of regime change in Cambodia. "I came with a human rights NGO to give a presentation on the land dispute issue in Cambodia," he said. Sourn Serey Ratha also denied the charges against him and told RFA from the U.S. that his lawyer would represent him at court in his absence. "Our struggle depends on international laws to fight against the dictatorship[in Cambodia]," he said. "We are not involved with any armed forces or illegal acts." An earlier hearing for both Luon Sovath and Sourn Serey Ratha had been scheduled for Sept. 18, but was delayed because the monk was traveling abroad. A report by the Cambodia Daily at the time cited Sourn Serey Ratha as saying that he had sponsored a trip by Luon Sovath to the U.S. in 2011 and helped raise nearly U.S. $30,000 for the monk's human rights work in Cambodia, but that they did not communicate after that. The report had quoted deputy prosecutor Meas Chanpeseth as saying that the two would be tried together because they are involved in the same case, without elaborating. Luon Sovath, who is known as the "multimedia monk," is known for his presence at protests against land grabs and election fraud where he regularly documents the events through video and photography. He became the first Southeast Asian recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2012, the aim of which is to provide protection through international recognition, according to the award's official website. Sourn Serey Ratha had filed, on behalf of the KPPM, a complaint with the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) two years ago accusing Hun Sen of "crimes against humanity" but it was eventually dropped. The complaint alleged that the Cambodian government has forcibly evicted more than 100,000 people from land the group says they have "legal title" to, and that members of the government are personally profiting from the use and sale of such land. The U.S.-based group cited "credible reports" of beatings, unjustified imprisonment, and killings of individuals who question or legally resist the forced evictions. The KPPM's complaint is believed to have upset Hun Sen.

On the 22nd October 2014, activist monk Luon Sovath and US-based Cambodian dissident Sourn Serey Ratha, leader of the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM), received summons accusing them of "incitement to commit crimes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and abroad" in 2011. Neither of the summons, which ordered the two men to appear in court together in the capital on Nov. 25, specified what crimes they had incited or how their cases were linked.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has summoned two prominent union leaders for questioning on Friday October 24th over charges that they incited violence and property damage at a garment worker protest in Phnom Penh in January during which military police fatally shot at least five people. The summonses are dated October 9 and ask Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, and Yang Sophoan, who heads the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, to "bring any documents related to the case above if they have them." Mr. Chhun and Ms. Sophoan said they each received the summonses Monday 27th October and would attend the questioning session. They have both denied any wrongdoing and claimed they were not at the protest. However, Mr. Chhun on Monday added a slight caveat to his previous denial. "I am not worried about being arrested because I was not present at the demonstration," he said. "But if I was there, I am not guilty because I just joined to demand a higher minimum wage for workers." They and other union leaders facing the same charges are currently under court supervision, restricting their activities in the midst of ongoing garment sector wage negotiations between the unions, factories and government.

On the 27th October 2014, union leaders Rong Chhun and Yang Sophoan were summoned for questioning by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over charges that they incited violence and property damage at a garment worker protest in Phnom Penh in January during which military police fatally shot at least five people.

On the afternoon of October 11th 2014, police in Oddar Meanchey beat a staff member from human rights organization Equitable Cambodia after they refused to allow officers to search their car without a warrant and gain access to a camera. Police stopped the car as it was transporting villagers back to their community, following interviews with Equitable Cambodia staff at an office belonging to ADHOC. Following the illegal search and beating of the staff, police confiscated the car and deleted a number of photos from the camera. The staff from Equitable Cambodia are now in Oddar Meanchey Provincial Police Station negotiating with police but are not currently detained. The violence comes after Equitable Cambodia staff were detained last month during a visit to Bos village in Oddar Meanchey, to investigate a case where approximately 100 families were affected when their rice fields were destroyed to make way for sugarcane plantations.

On the 11th October 2014, a human rights worker for organization Equitable Cambodia was beaten by police after refusing to allow officers to search their car without a warrant and gain access to a camera. Following the illegal search and beating of the staff member, police confiscated the car and deleted a number of photos from the camera. The violence comes after Equitable Cambodia staff were detained last month during a visit to Bos village in Oddar Meanchey, to investigate a case where approximately 100 families were affected when their rice fields were destroyed to make way for sugarcane plantations.

Ath Thorn, head of Cambodia's largest independent labour union, was placed under court supervision yesterday, the second such prohibitive order for the union leader. A judge told Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), that he cannot attend public demonstrations, and must report to police once per month, along with other requirements. The court also ordered Pav Sina, head of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, and Chea Mony, who leads the Free Trade Union, to also stay away from demonstrations and check in under the same timeline. "It is not fair, because we have not done what[the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC)] and the authorities have accused us of," Thorn said, referring to the organisation behind the complaint, which was filed on behalf of some 170 factories affected by a nationwide garment worker strike from late December to early January of this year. A total of six union leaders are charged with several crimes, including intentional violence in aggravating circumstances, connected to the strike, which led to the deaths of at least five people. Charges against the union members are baseless, because they accuse them of committing acts at places they were not present, said Dave Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity Center. Courts are charging union leaders with these crimes now to give the government leverage during minimum wage negotiations and ahead of the decision on next year's industry floor wage, which is expected by the end of October, Welsh said. "I think the basis for the charges and the issue of supervision are farcical," he added. "They're purely political and it's being done in the event that[the government decides on] a minimum wage that is not satisfactory to unions". Thorn was already under court supervision for a separate case in which he is a defendant, stemming from a strike at SL Garment Processing a few months before the nationwide protests last year. In that case, he is accused of inciting violence that injured the plaintiff, an SL security guard. One bystander was killed by stray gunfire from security forces during the strike. The C.CAWDU president already ignored the first court order on Wednesday, when he led a small march favouring a $177 minimum wage next year.

On 19 September 2014, Mr. Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) along with five union leaders, received a court order not to attend public demonstrations. They are also charged with baseless accusation including intentional violence in aggravating circumstances, connected to the strike in January 2014.

On Tuesday, 9 Sept. 2014, Cambodian authorities detained two employees of Equitable Cambodia (EC) without just cause. Ms. Meg Fukuzawa, a research consultant who has dual citizenship in the United States and Japan, and Mr. Lida Sok, a Cambodian research officer, had been in Oddar Meanchey province since last Monday to conduct field research on the human rights impacts of forced evictions resulting from the development of industrial sugarcane plantations. The plantations are owned by the Mitr Phol Group, one of Coca-Cola's top three global suppliers. Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok were working to collect research data to provide to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, which is investigating Mitr Phol's activities in Cambodia. Around 4:30 p.m., four police vehicles attended Bos village where Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok had been conducting their research. In 2008, the rice fields of approximately 100 families in Bos village were seized to make way for sugarcane plantations. When officers approached the researchers, they immediately asked Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok to accompany them to the Oddar Meanchey provincial police station. The officers' requests were denied, as by then, it was dark and the EC staff were concerned about traveling by motorcycle at night. An hour later, Long Sokun, the Deputy Police Chief of Oddar Meanchey, arrived at the village and asked to see Ms. Fukuzawa's immigration documents. Ms. Fukuzawa did not have her passport in her immediate possession. At approximately 8:30 p.m., a police vehicle attended Bos village and Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok were transported under duress to the provincial police station. The officers did not inform them of the reason for their detention, nor was an arrest warrant produced. They were held in police custody and interrogated about their research activities for over three hours, after which Mr. Sok was released from police custody. However, he chose to remain with his colleague to act as her translator and to provide support while she remained in custody. At the police station, Ms. Fukuzawa attempted to show both Mr. Long Sokun and his assistant scanned copies of her Japanese and American passports, which were sent to Mr. Sok's telephone. On both occasions, she was told that it was not necessary to provide such documents. Ms. Fukuzawa was held in police custody overnight and transported to the Department of Immigration in Phnom Penh on the morning of 10 Sept. 2014. After an interview was conducted with the Director of the Department of Immigration, Ms. Fukuzawa was released from police custody at 3:30 p.m. Police indicated to the researchers that they were asked to leave the village for their own safety because it was a remote area. Neither Ms. Fukuzawa nor Mr. Sok were concerned about their safety while undertaking their research at the village. The community members had treated the visitors with respect and hospitality. It was only after police arrived and detained them against their will that Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok felt their safety was at risk. Ultimately, the authorities claimed that Ms. Fukuzawa was detained because she could not produce her original passport when questioned by the police in Oddar Meanchey. No charges were laid nor fines imposed. Equitable Cambodia condemns the arbitrary detention of its employees, both in Oddar Meanchey and Phnom Penh. The absence of a passport upon request by police does not result in criminal sanctions. Moreover, neither individual was engaging in illegal activities. As such, there were no credible grounds to justify Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok's detention in police custody, the former lasting nearly 24 hours. Without warrant or reasonable grounds to seek detention, police and immigration officers violated Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok's constitutional right to not be arbitrarily detained and deprived them of their liberty without just cause.[ We the undersigned condemn the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders in Cambodia. We call upon the competent authorities to investigate those responsible for ordering the illegal and unjust detention of Meg Fukuzawa and Lida Sok.

On 9 September 2014, Ms. Meg Fukuzawa and Mr. Lida Sok, employees of Equitable Cambodia (local NGO) were detained without warrant by the police.

This morning at around 9.20am, four community activists from Boeung Kak Lake Community were arrested at Wat Chas, Chrouy Changvae district. The activists had arrived to support rural land communities from Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and Svay Rieng, who are preparing a march to petition the National Assembly and Prime Minister Hun Sen this morning. The four activists arrested are Song Sreyleap, Tep Vanny, Kek Chanrasmey and Kong Chantha. They are currently being detained at Chroy Chong Va district office. Authorities have now locked the communities inside the grounds of Wat Chas. Update: The Supreme Court today upheld the convictions of three Boeung Kak activists - including Tep Vanny - for allegedly obstructing and insulting public officials during a 2011 demonstration outside Phnom Penh City Hall. Their six month sentences were also upheld. Vanny, Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha were originally sentenced in September 2016, five years after an effort by some 100 community activists to deliver a petition to City Hall grew violent when security forces tried to disperse them. Authorities accused them and another activist, Heng Mom, of attacking and "insulting" security officials. According to a statement from rights NGO Licadho, neither the plaintiff's lawyers nor witnesses were present during the appeal process. "As in earlier court hearings on this case, insufficient evidence was presented to meet the legal standards for proof," the statement reads. The statement also notes that no "enforcement order" was issued, meaning Chhorvy and Chantha can be arrested at any time to serve their sentences. Vanny has been in Prey Sar prison since August 2016, and is already serving a 30-month sentence for her alleged role in a demonstration outside Prime Minister Hun Sen's house.

On 29 August, four land rights activists -Song Sreyleap, Tep Vanny, Kek Chanrasmey and Kong Chantha- from the Boeung Kak Lake community were arrested in Phnom Penh as they prepared to join a protest. The march was organised by four rural communities hoping to petition Prime Minister Hun Sen for justice in their land contestation. The activists are being held at Chroy Chong Va district office, while the protestors are being detained inside the grounds of a temple (Wat Chas). Update: On 08 December 2017, the Supreme Court upholds the convictions of three Boeung Kak activists - including Tep Vanny - for allegedly obstructing and insulting public officials during a 2011 demonstration outside Phnom Penh City Hall.