Activist Long Kunthea is arrested outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on July 2. (Photo: AFP)
Ten activists from environmental group Mother Nature have been jailed for six to eight years by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after they were found guilty of plotting against the government and insulting the monarch, King Norodom Sihamoni.
Four defendants who were dressed in white and held placards reading, “Justice is Dead” were “violently” seized and detained by police outside the court immediately after the verdict was read out on July 2, human rights group Licadho said in a statement.
Spanish co-founder Alejandro Gonzales-Davidson was among the guilty but he was tried in absentia since he was deported from Cambodia about 10 years ago.
Three activists – Gonzalez-Davidson, Yim Leanghy and Sun Ratha – were convicted of plotting and violating lese majeste laws, which related to a political cartoon leaked from a Zoom meeting, and sentenced to eight years and fined US$2,500.
Another seven activists – Ly Chandaravuth, Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoraksmey, Pork Khoeuy, Binh Piseth, Thun Ratha, and Rai Raksa – were sentenced to six years for plotting, which stemmed from a 2021 report regarding pollution in the Tonle Sap lake.
“Four of the five activists who have been present at the series of trial hearings were surrounded by at least 50 police officers and security personnel while sitting peacefully outside the Phnom Penh court,” Licadho said.
“The police and plainclothes personnel violently dragged them into waiting cars, as fellow activists shouted for their release. At least two of the Mother Nature activists were dragged by their necks.”
Their convictions and jailing follow a relentless seven-year crackdown on dissent and political opposition which was initiated by former prime minister Hun Sen ahead of the 2018 elections. His eldest son, Hun Manet, was named prime minister following last year’s election.
Human rights groups have detailed a list of at least 60 political prisoners, including former opposition leader Kem Sokha, prominent trade unionist Chhim Sithar, and the American-Cambodian lawyer and Khmer Bible editor Theary Seng who are currently serving lengthy jail terms.
The Cambodian government has faced mounting international pressure led by the United States and the United Nations to release all political prisoners, which observers say has tarnished the country’s image abroad and is impacting foreign investment and tourism when it is needed most.
“Mother Nature activists have for years faced harassment, threats and criminal charges for their peaceful environmental activism,” Licadho said.
This included advocating for a halt to sand mining, the protection of Koh Kong Krao island, and preventing the flow of effluents and sewage into waterways in Phnom Penh.
Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Hun Manet “like his father” has ignored calls by UN experts to address the closing space for civil society groups and called on the government to quash the verdicts.
“It also sends an appalling message to Cambodia’s youth that the government will side with special interests over the environment every chance it gets,” she said.
