But
Buntenh, leader of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, at
Kem Ley's funeral in Takeo province earlier this week. Heng Chivoan
Activist monk ‘in hiding’, says friend
Wed, 27 July 2016 ppp
Lay Samean
But
Buntenh, an activist monk and member of the funeral committee for slain
political analyst Kem Ley, has gone into hiding after receiving a tip
off that he was being hunted by authorities, according to a friend and
local media reports.
Tim
Malay, head of the Cambodia Youth Network, said he had spoken to his
friend Buntenh on the phone at about 3pm yesterday. He said the
outspoken founder of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice had
told him he was in a “safe place”.
“This
is the issue of those who want to threaten freedom of our expression,”
Malay said, adding Buntenh was still in Cambodia when he made the call.
It
came after a report from outlet Voice of Democracy, which quoted
Buntenh as saying he had received a call from an unknown man claiming to
be a police officer at 7am yesterday, warning him to go into hiding as
police were seeking his arrest.
According
to another story by Radio Free Asia yesterday, authorities in Siem Reap
province’s Varin district had visited Buntenh’s mother’s home to obtain
his birth certificate.
Speaking to RFA, Buntenh said the village chief told his mother that they wanted to make an identification card for him.
Buntenh,
local and national authorities were unreachable yesterday. However, on
Facebook, the activist monk wrote he was “living in fear”. “I cannot
live peacefully in hiding,” he wrote.
Buntenh’s
decision to go into hiding comes almost two weeks after activist
brothers Chum Huor and Chum Huot, who met Ley a day prior to his murder
at a gas station in Phnom Penh, fled the country claiming they feared
for their safety.
1 comment:
Turn off your smart phone location. Can Cambodian authority knows how to tracking? I doubt it? Run to any embassy asking for help and get out!
The current situation in Cambodia made me very angry!
Post a Comment