Environmental Activists Convicted of Incitement for Planning Peaceful Protest
Published on 5 May 2021
Three imprisoned youth environmental activists were sentenced by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning to between 18 and 20 months in prison for organising a peaceful one-woman march that intended to highlight authorities’ ongoing filling-in of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok lake and other activism to protect Cambodia’s natural resources.
Activists Long Kunthea and Phuon Keoraksmey, two women who were 22 and 19 years old when they were arrested in September 2020, were sentenced to 18 months in prison for “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social order” under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code and fined 4 million riel each (about $1,000). The third activist, Thun Ratha, 29, was sentenced to 20 months under the same charges, and he was also fined 4 million riel.
Two additional activists were also sentenced in absentia under the same charges, with warrants issued for their arrest. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national and founder of Mother Nature environmental movement, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, while environmental activist Chea Kunthin was sentenced to 18 months. Both were also fined 4 million riel each.
Kunthea, Keoraksmey and Ratha have been in pre-trial detention since authorities arrested them in early September 2020, after they planned to organise a march by Kunthea to walk from Wat Phnom to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house to express concerns regarding the rapid filling-in and development of Boeung Tamok lake, the capital’s largest remaining lake. Large swaths of the lake have been cut and distributed to connected individuals and government bodies in recent months.
The activists’ trial largely consisted of questions regarding the Mother Nature Facebook account, who was funding the environmental rights defenders, and publicly available social media posts, none of which constituted evidence of incitement. Civil society groups have called for the immediate release of the activists, while their families have noted that overcrowded prison conditions are impacting the health and safety of these young environmental defenders. Kunthea and Keoraksmey are scheduled to be released from prison in March 2022, while Ratha’s release is set for May 2022.
