DPA
Phnom Penh - A dentist and a guesthouse owner were among four people arrested by Cambodian police for allegedly distributing pamphlets predicting world upheaval, national media reported Monday.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper said they were taken into custody Thursday for handing out a leaflet that used Buddhist prophecies to forecast a world war, volcanoes erupting and earthquakes between 2012 and 2014.
The police chief of Svay Rieng province in southeastern Cambodia said the four had recommended concerned citizens should perform good deeds to ensure they survived the impending apocalypse.
'The leaflet might intimidate people,' said Prach Rim. 'But I think the court will release them because the case is not a big crime.'
A prominent political observer, Chea Vannath, said the four should be freed since freedom of expression was protected under the constitution.
And since the leaflet concerned possible future events, it could not yet be proven to be true or false.
'The (arrests were) probably due to fear of social disorder, especially after what happened on Diamond Island,' Chea Vannath said, in reference to the bridge crush that killed 353 people a fortnight ago in the capital.
'The authorities feel nervous of any other speculations because the accident is too recent,' she said.
6 comments:
people have freedom to personal belief whatever, but they should keep it to themselves and not spread scare or rumor to others. so, the authority has the rights to arrest them and educate them not to instill fear to the followers, etc...
it's call religious freedom, you knucklehead Hun Sen!
I see many people passing out these pamphlet in America, doesnt mean i'm going to lose some sleep over it!
You can't stop them from spreading the rumor because they themselves fear and they want to share it with friends and concerned citizen. Don't bother to look at it if you don't beleive it. This prophecy is meaningless if nobody give it a shit.
But you know khmer like fiction more than fact. That's why they are where they are right now until the viet fully control them.
It is unconstitutional to arrest these people their believe be how taste it is they have the right to do so unless it has intentional harm. Just like those idiot head Monk prophecize about the harvest season from the cows.
The 2012 destruction is not new there is a program called 2012 that talked about start sign etc... pointing to great destruction... but again during 2000 there was also this rumor causing many people buying alot of food and water stocks...
It is just way to make money !
What's about real crimes that related to murder,any discovery of those cases?
Communist always fear for so called incitement.
Arrest is not a way to provide safety either to people or people in power, but provide real laws enforcement.
Be wiser!
""The impending apocalypse"" is HUN SEN and HIS EVIL REGIME will PERISH SOON.
THE "proling Khmoach" of K5, GRanade throwing, Killings of civil society, and Stamped is coming to take HUN SEN's soul very soon.
Proling Khmoach................PP
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