Former RFA Reporters Questioned on Additional Charges
Published on 31 May 2018
Former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin were interviewed by an investigating judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court today on charges brought under the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
The two men worked for RFA until the media outlet shut its Phnom Penh Bureau in September 2017, citing government repression and the forced closure of its FM radio broadcasts as part of an ongoing crackdown on critical media.
They were arrested and detained on 14 November 2017. Four days later they were charged with treason and sent to pre-trial detention in Phnom Penh's chronically overcrowded Correctional Centre 1 (CC1). The trafficking charges, which are part of a second separate case against the pair, were added later.
No evidence substantiating any of the charges has been made public.
On 18 May, Investigating Judge Pich Vicheathor extended their pre-trial detention period by a further six months.
Chin and Sothearin have been charged under Article 445 of the Criminal Code for activities which can “undermine national defence” and articles 38 and 39 of the human trafficking law. They face up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
