CCHR President Ou Virak Will Face Questions at Ratanakiri Court on Monday 8 October 2012

CCHR PRESS RELEASE – Phnom Penh, 4 October 2012

CCHR President Ou Virak Will Face Questions at Ratanakiri Court on Monday 8 October 2012

Ou Virak, President of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”), has confirmed that he will face questions at the Ratanakiri Provincial Court in Banlung City, Ratanakiri province, on the morning of Monday 8 October 2012.  He was originally summonsed to appear on Thursday 18 October 2012, but due to a prior commitment to attend a conference held by the World Movement for Democracy in Lima, Peru, on 14-17 October 2012, entitled “Democracy for All: Ensuring Political, Economic and Social Inclusion” ­– he requested that the summons be brought forwards, which the Ratanakiri Provincial Court has kindly agreed to.

On 1 October 2012, Ou Virak was summonsed – along with Pen Bonnar and Chhay Thy, provincial co-ordinator and investigator, respectively, from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (“ADHOC”), and Radio Free Asia reporter, Sok Ratha (aka Ratha Visal) – to appear before the Ratanakiri Provincial Court in relation to charges for “incitement to commit a crime or felony that was successfully committed”.

The charges were based on a complaint made by commune chief Kith Chem, and purportedly relate to allegations that the men incited members of an ethnic minority group to protest violently against powerful agro-business company, D.M. Group, in 2009, as part of a long-running and ongoing land dispute in Lumphat district, Ratanakiri province, between D.M. Group and 136 families of the indigenous Tumpuan people, concerning a 260-hectare area of land.  The conflict has seen villagers threatened and intimidated and legal charges brought against ten community representatives.

The summons is silent as to not only what legal provisions the charges might be brought under, but also the nature of the underlying crime that Ou Virak has allegedly incited.  If, as suspected, the charges relate to the events of 2009, it is important to note that charges cannot legally be brought under a law that was not in force at the time.  Indeed, Article 671 of the Penal Code 2009 stipulates that cases should be reviewed on the basis of the criminal code in force at the time of any alleged offense.  The Penal Code 2009 came into force in December 2010.  Because of the vagueness of the summons, it is therefore impossible to predict on current information what sentence Ou Virak and the others might face if charged and found guilty.

CCHR President Ou Virak, responding to the Ratanakiri court’s confirmation today, comments:

“It has been confirmed: I will appear in the Ratanakiri Court to answer questions relating to the incitement charge on Monday 8 October 2012.  I have asked the summons to be brought forwards because of prior commitments which I am obliged and pleased to honor.  More importantly, I have nothing to hide, nothing to fear, and am ready to face these questions.  If the court is independent and impartial, then no charges will be brought.  In fact, it will be quite an interesting test case to see if the court retains any integrity.  We shall see.  The vagueness of the summons though is very unprofessional: how can anyone prepare to answer questions about a crime which they know nothing about?  This is not unusual in Cambodia nowadays – but hopefully in this case, justice and common sense will prevail.”

For more information, please contact Ou Virak via telephone at +855 (0) 12 40 40 51 or e-mail at ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org.