Two men once accused of leading a so-called secessionist movement in
Kratie province in May, and who later testified in court that popular radio station owner Mam Sonando had encouraged their rebellious actions,
received money from the government to build new homes, a district
official said.
Ma Chhang, 47, and Khat Saroeun, 42, were arrested and put on trial
for their alleged roles in leading the so-called secession in Kratie’s
Broma village. But both men had their sentences suspended, and were
immediately freed from prison, after testifying against Mr. Sonando
during their joint trial in October.
Even though he was overseas at the time of the alleged events, Mr.
Sonando, 72, was jailed for 20 years for what the court said was his
“instigation” of the Broma residents.
Though Mr. Chhang and Mr. Saroeun were initially named as “anarchy
masterminds” by the Ministry of Interior in May, they have since
received an undisclosed amount of money from the government, Chhlong
district governor Soum Sarith said.
“Provincial authorities gave them [Ma Chhang and Khat Saroeun] cash
for building proper shelters,” Mr. Sarith said. “Because their homes
burned down [after they fled the village in May], we helped support them
with cash for building new homes to live in and other materials,” Mr.
Sarith said.
The district governor declined to say how much was given to the two
men or specify what kind of “materials” were provided to them.
Three neighbors of the two men in Broma village said this week that
the pair has prospered since giving testimony in court and gaining their
release from prison.
“Ma Chhang and Khat Saroeun have built very big homes since they
turned themselves in,” said one of the villagers, who declined to be
named for fear of retribution.
“These men have been treated very well…. They are very powerful in the village now,” the villager said.
Another neighbor estimated that the men now live on sizeable plots of land, possibly up to 20 hectares in size.
Land in Broma village was demarcated by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s
student volunteers earlier this year. While the three villagers
interviewed said they have also applied for land titles under the
student volunteer scheme, none had received any cash to rebuild homes
that Mr. Sarith said their two neighbors had received.
Kratie provincial governor Sar Chamrong denied on Wednesday that he
had given any money to Mr. Chhang and Mr. Saroeun to rebuild their
homes.
“I don’t know about this…. If it’s true, maybe they got it [the money] from someone else,” he said.
Mr. Chamrong did confirm that Mr. Chhang and Mr. Saroeun, along with
all long-term residents of Broma village, have had their land measured
recently as part of Mr. Hun Sen’s new land-titling program.
“We are implementing the government’s order…to measure land for all
Cambodians, including Ma Chhang and Khat Saroeun because they are both
local residents who have been living in Broma village for a long time,”
he said.
However, when the Interior Ministry issued a statement in May seeking
the arrest of Mr. Chhang and Mr. Saroeun for leading the secession, the
ministry said the two were officially residents of Kompong Cham
province.
Neighbors said this week that the pair had moved to Broma only in the past couple of years.
On May 16, when government security forces launched its massive
operation against Broma, the only casualty was the 14-year-old girl Heng
Chantha, who was shot dead as she hid in her house.
The raid on Broma followed months of protests by the villagers against the loss of their land to a rubber company.
Though the so-called rebellion has been quelled, villagers and human
rights groups say that Broma village is still sealed off to outsiders,
with military checkpoints at all roads leading into the area.
“The situation here is really tense. We dare not speak publicly about
the intimidation in Broma village,” one resident said this week,
speaking on the condition of anonymity because of fears for her safety.
1 comment:
Post a Comment