Ny Nak (left) holds a banner while marching with social and political activists in Phnom Penh in February 2023.

Outspoken social commentator Ny Nak was sent to pre-trial detention by a Phnom Penh court this morning after being questioned on charges of incitement to discriminate and defamation on Friday.

Nak claimed the charges were filed due to a Facebook post in which he questioned the government’s decision to give away 91 hectares of land in Kampot province to an individual named Heng Sour. A local newspaper identified the land recipient as the current Minister of Labour Heng Sour, but that was later denied by the government. Nak is being held at Phnom Penh’s Correctional Center 1.

Nak said his arrest was due to a complaint filed by Sour over at least one of Nak’s social media posts, made on 17 December 2023, which asked, “What achievements has Heng Sour done for the Khmer nation, that the government gave him forest land as his personal property? RIP Khmer forests.”

He was previously arrested and convicted of incitement and public insult in December 2020 over a video in which he tweaked the words of a speech by then-Prime Minister Hun Sen, suggesting that he would place his chicken coop into a state of emergency, and that his chickens would wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. He was convicted and imprisoned for 18 months over those charges.

Nak resumed his outspoken social commentary following his release. He and his wife were beaten by men with metal batons in Phnom Penh on 12 September 2023. Nak was hospitalized following that attack, which closely mirrored the dozens of daylight attacks on opposition members and government critics that have gone unsolved over the past five years.