Faithful File Petition for Missing Monk Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 July 2007
"The departments involved also want us to find him, as he is a Cambodian citizen" - Khieu Sopheak, the ever changing spokesman of the Ministry of InteriorAbout 30 villagers from Kirivong town in Takeo province put their marks to a petition Friday, asking government authorities to find a recently defrocked monk who has gone missing.
Tim Sokhorn, a Khmer Kampuchea Krom monk who led a pagoda in Takeo, was last seen reportedly being forced into a vehicle after he was ordered defrocked for allegedly stirring unrest between Cambodia and Vietnam. Buddhist leaders said he was allowing Khmer Krom monks to stay at the pagoda and inciting them to protest and violence.
The monk's disappearance has led to a wave of unrest and fear among Khmer Krom monks and laymen, and the rights of the minority group overall are often politically charged and potentially destabilizing. The government has so far been unable to allay fears the monk was sent to Vietnam against his will.
"We want to take the petition to the National Assembly to find a solution for Tim Sokhorn," said one of his followers Friday. "There is no reason for him to disappear. If he made an offense in Cambodia, he should be tried in Cambodia. We want all high-ranking officials to help find him, dead or alive."
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Tim Sokhorn went to Vietnam willingly.
"He asked us permission to go. Now we don't know where he is," Khieu Sopheak said. "The departments involved also want us to find him, as he is a Cambodian citizen."
2 comments:
may our god buddha help him.....and save him from any harm...hope kone khmer stand up and fight like him to preserve our trees and protect our belove country cambodia before it is too late.......stand up...and be a good fight....
The recent measure taken against the Monk Tep Sakhorn reflects the barbary of the Hun Sen's Communist government, the Servility of Hun Sen to Vietnam and the unnacceptable abuse of human right.
We must make pressure to find the lost monk, dead or alive.
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