Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Three More Released After Beehive Radio Owner

20.03.2013
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

PHNOM PENH - Three villagers who were detained last year alongside Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando were released from prison on Tuesday, following 10 months in detention.

Touch Ream, Kan Sovann and Phorn Srouen were arrested following a government crackdown in Kratie province in May and accused of being part of a secessionist movement. The suspects said they had been arrested and erroneously charged, as Mam Sonando was. They were sentenced to five years each in prison.

Touch Rem, who was charged with anti-government activities, told VOA Khmer the courts had made a “mistake.” Twenty witnesses spoke on his behalf, but the court sided with two witnesses who said he had committed wrongdoing, he said. He called the decision “an injustice.”

Mam Sonando, 72, who was jailed in July and charged with fomenting a secessionist movement in Kratie province, was released on Friday, following an Appeals Court hearing that overturned the decision of a lower court. He still faces charges related to deforestation that were raised by the Appeals Court prosecutor, which carries a suspended sentence of five years, a decision he has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

None of these Cambodian people deserve to go to jail in the first place! Why AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave fear these Cambodian people so much to the point to have them put in jail? It is because AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave is getting paranoid and afraid of his own shadow. The last day of AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave regime is getting near! AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave is becoming more like Pol Pot who is paranoid of everything!