A municipal court in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Wednesday sentenced union leader Rong Chhun to two years in prison for public comments about villagers' land rights along the Cambodia-Vietnam border, national media reported
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2021) A municipal court in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Wednesday sentenced union leader Rong Chhun to two years in prison for public comments about villagers' land rights along the Cambodia-Vietnam border, national media reported.
Rong Chhun, the president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and a member of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, was also fined $500, Phnom Penh-based Khmer Times newspaper reported. It added that two other defendants, a motorbike taxi driver, and a grocery vendor, were given 20 months in prison each and fined $500 for assisting the activist.
"The court orders them to jointly pay 400 million Riel (about $ 100,000) to Cambodia Border Committee as a plaintiff in this case," Judge Le Sokha said, as quoted by the media outlet, adding that the trio was charged with "incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest" under Article 495 of the Criminal Code.
Rong Chhun was arrested in July 2020 after speaking out in several public statements about the government's allegedly illegal actions, including privately conceding the Cambodian land to Vietnam.
The taxi driver and saleswoman, residents of the border province, were apprehended in August 2020, for providing Rong Chhun with information on the Vietnamese control in the area.
