Monday, 16 July 2012
Meas Sokchea
Phnom Penh Post 
Mam
Sonando, Beehive Radio director and president of the Association of
Democrats, greets well-wishers after returning to Cambodia on Friday.
Photograph: Pha Lina / Phnom Penh Post
Police in the capital yesterday arrested the alleged leader of a “secessionist plot”, Beehive Radio station
director Mam Sonando, who had already been abroad for two months when
hundreds of security personnel stormed a Kratie province village in May.
Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior,
told the Post that the Association of Democrats president, who arrived
back in the country on Thursday after spending time in the US and
France, was charged with plotting against public civil servants,
insurrection, interference in the fulfilment of public duties and
inciting people to use weapons against authorities.
Sonando’s
wife, Din Phanara, said that police surrounded the house yesterday
morning, and entered while her husband was dressing.
“About 20
police had come into [my] house waiting in front of the door to our
room, and they read the arrest warrant for [us], and then they took him
into their car,” said Phanara, who denied her husband’s involvement in
any wrongdoing.
Sonando was wanted for his alleged involvement
in events that led to the forced eviction of hundreds of families
involved in a land dispute with Russian company Casotim in Kratie’s Pro
Ma village – an eviction in which a 14-year-old girl was shot dead by government forces.
The
government has described the Kratie operation as an attempt to quell a
“secessionist plot” purportedly led by community activist Bun Ratha, and
masterminded by Sonando. Ratha and other villagers have repeatedly
denied any such plot, saying they were simply applying for land titles.
The
arrest prompted Ratha, who has eluded authorities since the Kratie
operation, to break his long silence by phoning into a press conference
arranged by US-based opposition group Khmer People Power Movement at
Beehive Radio yesterday afternoon.
Ratha once again denied the
existence of a secessionist plot as well as Sonando’s involvement, and
contested the charge that Sonando had incited villagers to use weapons,
saying that all the villagers were unarmed.
“The accusation of
Mr Hun Sen’s government is not legal,” Ratha said, calling the matter
another example of a company stealing villagers’ land.
“I would
dare to go to clarify, but if [my] clarification is in front of a court
that is not independent, what does my clarification mean?”
“Provided that there is an international independent court, I would dare to go to clarify,” he added.
Civil
society groups and opposition parties have called the arrest political
intimidation, saying the government has historically cracked down on
dissent ahead of elections.
“The [CPP] has always gone against
anyone who protests against the government,” said SRP lawmaker Yim
Sovann. “This is not a democratic society.”
Cambodian Center for Human Rights President Ou Virak said it was part of an orchestrated distraction from the killing in Kratie.
“Since
that disgraceful act, the authorities have gone to great lengths to
create an alternative narrative – with creative accusations of
secessionism and sedition and now this arrest – to what was clearly
another case of Cambodian people being forcibly and illegally removed
from their land in order for a private business to make money,” Virak
said in a statement.
Political analyst Lao Mong Hay said the CPP
may view groups like Sonando’s as dangerous unified sources of dissent
further down the road.
“For some time, several years, Mam Sonando
has been able to rally a large group of people; the Association of
Democrats, and the members of that organisation have been able to use
his radio station,” he said, adding the station sometimes serves as a
forum for callers and guests to air grievances. “Sometimes I tune in,
and it is highly critical of the government and politicians.”
Chea
Bamrong, deputy president of the Association of Democrats, said Sonando
had probably been arrested for statements made in a speech upon his
return.
Council of Ministers
spokesman Phay Siphan said last week the government had no plans to
arrest Sonando, but said yesterday he had been unaware of the arrest
warrant.
To contact the reporter on this story: Meas Sokchea at sokchea.meas@phnompenhpost.com
No comments:
Post a Comment