A Khmer Krom sentenced to 2 years jail term in Vietnam for disinformation (exaggerating the truth)

Huynh Ba

Monday, 22 March 2010
By Khmerization
Source: RFA

A Vietnamese court has on 19th March sentenced a Khmer Krom, an ethnic Khmer living in Vietnam, to 2 years jail for defamation and for spreading disinformation in regard to ongoing land disputes between the Khmer Krom community and the Vietnamese authority, reports Radio Free Asia.

Mr. Huynh Ba is currently in jail in Khleang (Soc Trang) province and all his family members are banned from visiting him in jail.

A Khmer Krom lady from Boeng Sansorng district in Khleang province, who spoke on condidition of anonymity, said she and Huynh Ba used to actively participate in protests against land confiscations by the Vietnamese authority. "Huynh Ba has been sentenced yesterday (19th March). I used to go with Huynh Ba to complain and protest against land confiscations. He is my friend. I know him", she said.

Another Khmer Krom from Moat Chrouk (An Giang) province, where protests against land confiscations by the Vietnamese authority are very prevalent, said he is saddened by Huynh Ba's imprisonment. "I am very saddened because we have spent a lot of energy and resources fighting this cause and how can we survive if everything has been taken (by the Vietnamese authority)? We demanded he be released but they (Vietnamese authority) have never agreed to meet us. So, even if they mistreated him, no one will know", he said.

According to a statement released by World Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation in Cambodia, Mr. Huynh Ba was arrested in May 2009, mistreated by not giving food, forced shaved and humiliated. He has only been taken to court on 19th March 2010, 10 months after his arrest.

Ven. Thach Sovannara, spokesman for World Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation in Cambodia, condemns the action of the Vietnamese authority. "It is very unjust for Huynh Ba. The Vietnamese government has threatened and violated the freedom of Mr. Huynh Ba because Huynh Ba didn't do anything wrong, he just protested and demanded for the returns of lands confiscated by the Vietnamese authority. So, when he protested, the Vietnamese court issued an arrest warrant against him, put him in jail and sentenced him to jail term by accusing him of political uprising", he said.

Another Khmer Krom monk, Ven. Yoeung Sin, also condemns the Vietnamese authority. "To call them 'Vietnamese' is not appropriate, we must call them 'Yuon'. The Yuon always have this kind of mentality and that is the Yuon characteristics. It is not appropriate to call them Vietnamese, but if we call them Yuon, their character is always like that", he said.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh cannot be reached for comment at the time of this report going to air because it is Saturday when it is closed for business.

Mr. Huynh Ba has led Khmer Krom to fight for the returns of their ancestral lands from 2001 until his arrest in October 2009, their ancestral lands which were confiscated by the Vietnamese authority in 1978 when they fled their homes to escape the fighting between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces which took place in the area.