The bizarre case of the Empire Movement

Another activist of the Empire movement arrested at the Poipet international gate

Monday, May 21, 2007
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The (Cambodian) authority at the Poipet international gate, at Banteay Meanchey province, arrested one of the founders of a group involved of recruiting troops to form the Empire movement. The arrest was made in cooperation with the Pursat province police authority, and the suspect was handed over to the Pursat province immediately for questioning and building a case to be sent to the court.

54-year-old Thab Ther, also known as Sothivong, was arrested by the police at 7:30 AM on 18 May 2007 at the Poipet international gate when he was about to cross over to Thailand. The police said that Thab Ther does not have a fixed address, although he lives in Phnom Penh. In the Empire movement, Thab Ther holds the title of Vice-President and Secretary-General.

Thab Ther confessed that he joined the Empire movement in October 2006 in Phnom Penh. The leaders of the movement include among others: Chhay Seila, So Vuthy called Chan Mak Tarak, Punh Hou called Mok Sereypun, Prince Sereyvong, etc… Thach Ther said the Empire movement plans to recruit 8 army battalions bearing the numbers 701 to 708, and the recruitment will take place in Pursat province, Phnom Penh, and Svay Rieng province, as well as a number of other provinces. He also said that each battalion would include 433 men.

Thab Ther said that the goal of the Empire movement is to destroy terrorism in the world and in Cambodia, and that the movement receives fundings from a source in the US. If the group can find terrorists, nicknamed “precious objects,” they would receive up to at least $10 million and Cambodia would receive all the fame.

However, according to the answer provided by Dara Veasna, also known as Angkear Bos, who was one of the three arrested by the police earlier, the Empire movement was formed to liberate the Cochinchina lands (Kampuchea Krom), the Champa kingdom, and a number of Thai provinces. Dara Veasna claimed that he is the commander in charge of Tonle Sap zone, or military division 5.

Thab Ther said that he always hold his meetings under a tree located east of the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, in order to discuss about the recruiting of troops for the Empire movement, and once the number of recruits reaches the quota, he will receive fundings.

Thab Ther said that until now, he has yet to receive any funding from anybody. Thab Ther said that the recognition code for Empire movement members is a piece of lead covered by a 5-centimer-square black cloth. The recognition codes were distributed to all, except for the battalion in Svay Rieng province.

Thab Ther said that his trip to Thailand was to participate in a meeting which will also be participated by some people coming from the US, but that he does not know if those coming from the US are Cambodians or foreigners. Nevertheless, before he was even able to cross the border, the authority arrested him. Thab Ther said that because of delay in the distribution of money, he sometimes thought that he was tricked (into joining this movement). Therefore, Thab Ther said that in order to come up with a long list of people joining the movement, the other members of the movement decided to include names of SRP members into the movement list, and that these SRP members did not even know of this subterfuge.

Thab Ther’s case was filed by the anti-terrorist police force in Pursat province, and the case will be sent to the court in the afternoon of 19 May for further legal action.

Previously, the authority had already arrested 3 members of the Empire movement. The three are currently being jailed while waiting for their court sentence. A number of other people are also being searched by the authority.

In Cambodia, there are numerous stories about the formations of various movements by anarchist groups, with the goal of toppling the government, or creating unrest in the society. Nevertheless, all these movements have all been aborted on time and destroyed by the authority of the Royal Government of Cambodia.