Two Community Reps Arrested, Charged over Covid Law
Published on 28 August 2021
Two land community representatives in Svay Rieng province were sent to pre-trial detention today on charges of disobeying administrative measures and obstructing against the implementation of prevention measures, under Articles 10 and 11 of the recently passed Covid Law, which carry up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to 20 million riels each.
Ms. Yous Sophorn and Ms. En Soth, two representatives from Samaki Chek Meas community in Svay Chrum district, were summonsed by provincial police on Friday morning and were arrested after arriving at the police station. The summons related to a community protest in a rice field involving more than 100 villagers that took place on 2 August 2021, during which authorities accused the two women of not following proper health measures and fined them 2 million riels each. The Svay Chrum district governor told local media at the time that if the women did not pay the fine within one month, they would face additional legal measures.
UN experts in April raised concerns about the “excessive prison sentences and fines” in the government’s Law on Preventive Measures Against the Spread of Covid-19 and other Severe and Dangerous Contagious Diseases, or the Covid Law, which was hastily passed and enacted without proper consultations in March 2021.
Villagers in Samaki Chek Meas are calling on provincial authorities to stop intimidating and pressuring them into accepting improper compensation for about 100 hectares of farmland that authorities want to develop as part of a canal project.
