Tuesday, 24 July 2012
May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post 
Supporters
of detained Beehive Radio director Mam Sonando gather for a blessing
ceremony in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh
Post
While Mam Sonando lay in a cramped Prey Sar prison cell
yesterday, sweating out a fever, some 100 members of the Association of
Democrats burned incense and kneeled in prayer at the Preah Ang Dang
Keu shrine, calling for the outspoken Beehive Radio director’s release.
With
white shirts emblazoned with his face and Khmer and English placards,
the peaceful protesters travelled to the capital from provinces
stretching from Kratie to Takeo.
Sonando, also president of the Association of Democrats, was arrested on July 15
on a slew of charges including plotting against public civil servants,
insurrection, interference in the fulfilment of public duties and
inciting people to use weapons against authorities.
He was wanted
by authorities for his alleged involvement in events that led to
hundreds of families being evicted from their homes in a land dispute in
Kratie’s Pro Ma village, in which a 14-year-old girl was shot dead by
government forces.
The protesters held that Sonando was wrongfully accused.
“He
did not commit as alleged,” said 35-year-old Touch Some, from Takeo
province. “He didn’t do anything wrong. What the government accused him
is just to break up the [Association of] Democrats. He never incited
the villagers to do anything against the law.”
As reported in the Post, several civil society groups and opposition parties have called the arrest political intimidation.
Yesterday,
Sonando was taken to a private cell after he fell ill with a severe
flu, but his attorney, Sok Sam Oeun, said his condition has improved.
Oeun, also executive director of Cambodian Defender Project, added that he would request temporary release – or bail – within the next few days.
“When
I submit, the court must respond within five days, but I am not
confident, as you cannot predict these decisions or the law in
Cambodia,” he said.
Sonando was abroad when the Kratie eviction
occurred, and returned to Cambodia only four days before his arrest,
which coincided with the departure of foreign dignitaries, in town for
the ASEAN summit.
To contact the reporter on this story: May Titthara at titthara.may@phnompenhpost.com
With assistance from Claire Knox
No comments:
Post a Comment