A Cambodian activist has been charged with “incitement” after attempting to negotiate in a land dispute between villagers and big business.
Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated and a further blight on this country’s record of judicial harassment.
Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 prison by an investigating judge at the Phnom Penh Capital Court, human rights group Licadho said in a statement.
It said he was charged with “committing a misdemeanor after sentencing for a misdemeanor” and “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 88, 494, and 495 of the Criminal Code.
Koet Saray, a former Buddhist monk, was previously arrested amid protests in 2020 and defrocked.
The charges relate to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province, in the remote north, and in the Tamouk Lake area of Phnom Penh and claimed Koet Saray aimed to incite protesters to defy the government and affect security and public order.
Thy Thorn, a member of the KSILA — which advocates for good governance and the sustainable use of natural resources — told the pro-government Khmer Times that Saray had not committed any crimes and had joined villagers protesting that their land was infringed upon.
“Koet Saray is a social activist who has worked hard without receiving any salary to help the poor. I would like to appeal to the court to release him because he has not committed any offense,” he said, adding that no other associations had dared to speak out about the land grabs.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders urged authorities to release Koet Soay immediately and unconditionally, saying Cambodian authorities had systematically used legal harassment and a politicized judicial system to target critical voices.
This had resulted in a “serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, including through increasing obstacles to the exercise of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” it said in a statement.
Human rights groups say Cambodia has imprisoned more than 60 political activists, including the Khmer-American Bible editor Theary Seng and, the former leader of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Kem Sokha.
Kem Sokha launched his appeal against a 27-year sentence in January and appeared in court last week, where he again denied any involvement with a color revolution that prosecutors allege was designed to oust the then prime minister, Hun Sen, in the mid-2010s.
“We noticed that the evidence is insufficient to show that our client had committed an offense. The evidence of the demonstration showing people carrying lotus flowers wasn’t related to him,” his lawyer Meng Sopheary told the Court of Appeal, said a dispatch from CambojaNews.
Lotus flowers had become a symbol of resistance.
The court has adjourned until April 25.
The CNRP was outlawed by the courts in late 2017, enabling Hun Sen to win absolute control of Cambodia at elections in 2018 and 2023 before transferring power to his eldest son Hun Manet.
Credit: Source link
