Mam Sonando - Appeal hearing scheduled for 5 March

 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION  JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON

Government critic and prominent journalist Mam Sonando (71) was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Municipal Court in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, on 1 October 2012. He was convicted of anti-state offences, including “instigating insurrection”. His appeal hearing is scheduled for 5 March.

A representative of Amnesty International attended Mam Sonando’s trial that took place from 11 to 14 September 2012, and the verdict hearing on 1 October 2012. Although the trial appeared to be conducted quite fairly, the verdict reached was inexplicable, suggesting political interference in the proceedings. No evidence was presented that proved insurrection – a violent uprising against the government – occurred or Mam Sonando’s involvement. Thirteen other defendants including community activists and villagers were also tried, three of them in absentia. They received sentences between 10 months’ and 30 years’ imprisonment. Mam Sonando’s request for bail was rejected in December 2012, and the appeal hearing against his conviction has been scheduled for 5 March 2013.

Mam Sonando is a prominent journalist and the owner of Beehive Radio, one of Cambodia’s few independent radio stations. He is also the head of the Association of Democrats, a non-governmental organization that promotes human rights and democracy.

The prosecution of Mam Sonando appears to have been prompted by a speech made by Cambodia’s Prime Minister on 26 June 2012. In this speech, he accused Mam Sonando and members of the Association of Democrats of being behind what he claimed was a plot for Pro Ma village, in Kratie province to secede from Cambodia and become an independent state. The speech came soon after Beehive Radio broadcast a report about a complaint lodged in June 2012 at the International Criminal Court, that accuses Cambodia’s government of committing crimes against humanity by displacing thousands of people through forced evictions.

The Cambodian authorities used the alleged secession plot as a pretext for the violent eviction in mid-May 2012 of around 1,000 families living in Pro Ma, during which security forces shot dead a 14-year-old girl. Her killing was never investigated.

Amnesty International:

• Demands the immediate and unconditional release of Mam Sonando, who is a prisoner of conscience, and that his conviction is overturned;
• Calls on the authorities to protect, respect and promote the right to freedom of expression in Cambodia.