Human Rights Defender Alert – Phnom
Penh, 5 September 2012
Boeung Kak Activist Arrested and
Charged by Phnom Penh Municipal Court
Yorm Bopha, Boeung
Kak community activist, was arrested yesterday and swiftly charged with intentional violence by the Phnom Penh
Municipal Court. The court refused to explain why Yorm Bopha had been arrested
or to clarify the charges made against her.
Investigating Judge
Te Sam Ang would not reveal reasons for the arrest or elaborate on the nature
of the charges. He simply reiterated that she was accused of intentional
violence ‘with aggravating circumstances’ and had as a result been detained.
Yorm Bopha is a
resident of Boeung Kak and an outspoken community activist who has been
fighting against forced evictions in the area. The Boeung Kak area of Phnom
Penh has been the subject of a long-standing land dispute with development
company Shukaku Inc., owned by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin. Residents of the area
had their homes destroyed to make way for the company’s real estate venture.
Ms. Yorm Bopha and
her husband, Luos Sakhorn were followed by plain clothes police officers when
they left their home on the morning of 4 September. They were travelling to
pick up their identity cards when the officers made the arrest around 8.30am.
Luos Sakhorn was later released, as according to the court he had no hand in
the intentional violence allegedly
committed by his wife.
Yorm Bopha is
currently being held in Prey Sar prison’s correctional center II and details of
the accusation against her have yet to be revealed.
For more information, please contact Mr.Suon Bunthoeun, CCHR Human Rights Defenders Project
Co-ordinator via telephone on 012 48 35 46 or e-mail: bunthoeun@cchrcambodia.org
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