Agreement forced, Loun Savath says
Monday, 28 May 2012
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
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| The Venerable Loun Savath was detained by police, monks and unidentified plain-clothed men on Thursday in the capital after he took photos of protesting Boeung Kak lake villagers. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post |
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
Activist
monk Loun Savath yesterday decried an “agreement” he thumbprinted in
the presence of Supreme Patriarch Nun Nget on Thursday, claiming he was forced to comply under duress.
Speaking from a safe place yesterday, the “multimedia monk” said a group, including the municipal chief monk and the minister of Cults and Religions, had threatened to defrock him if he did not agree to stay away from all protests.
“Any forced agreement is not an agreement, because it is against my will,” Loun Savath said, adding he wanted the authorities to give such instructions through transparent legal proceedings.
Loun Savath was violently
forced into a car outside Phnom Penh municipal court on Thursday
morning and detained at Wat Botum for about 10 hours, where many senior
monks met with him, including the Supreme Patriarch.
Boeung Kak 13 to appeal
Monday, 28 May 2012
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell
The Phnom Penh Post
 |
| Boeung Kak lake villagers protest outside Prey Sar prison yesterday morning after 13 protesters were sentenced to prison after a three-hour trial last week. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post |
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell
The Phnom Penh Post
Thirteen Boeung Kak lake women who were sentenced to two and a half years in jail on Thursday following a lawyer-free trial that lasted just three hours will appeal their convictions, their distraught supporters said yesterday.
As the reality of the trial,
which rights groups have condemned as illegal, set in, families and
friends of the women gathered at the home of imprisoned representative
Tep Vanny in village 22, vowing to fight for the women’s freedom.
Heng Tong, 62, the husband of
jailed Heng Mom, said the women’s lawyer, Ham Sunrith, would meet with
the 13 women at Prey Sar prison today.
“They will urge him to file a complaint to the Appeal Court against the decision,” he said.
Tep Vanny’s husband, Ou Kong,
35, said he would write to every NGO and embassy in Cambodia pleading
for more action to secure the women’s freedom.
“The judgment on my wife and other women in Boeung Kak was not legal,”
he said. “Correct procedures were not followed. The judge refused to
bring important witnesses to the hearing, which is a right protected
under the constitution.”
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| Villagers in Kratie province block the road in January after four people in a group of villagers protesting against alleged land grabbing by the TTY company were shot. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post |
Monday, 28 May 2012
May Titthara and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
the very reason people take to the streets is because they cannot expect help from Cambodia’s dysfunctional legal system
Prime Minister Hun Sen has told villagers they should not to protest in land disputes but rather seek help from authorities following a spate of violent crackdowns on demonstrations.
The premier said protests
affect public order and claimed they sometimes become violent in a
statement signed last Tuesday and obtained by the Post yesterday.
“In settling to divide land or land ownership to villagers, there is no other means to resolution than authorities to tackle [the problem] (sic!),” the statement reads.
Protesters must avoid “all forms of violence” and not employ disruptive actions such as blocking national roads, it continues.
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