Cambodian Court Sentences Three Activists to Seven Years for Plotting

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday sentenced three activists to seven years in prison each after being convicted of plotting against the government, the latest legal action against dozens of political activists rounded up in 2024 for organizing protests against a government development pact. Thy Thorn, vice president of the youth-led civil society group Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), Mean Chanthon and Soueng Kunthea were sentenced on Wednesday after spending more than two years in pretrial detention, according to the rights group Licadho, whose staff attended the verdict hearing. Son Chum Choun, the lawyer for Chanthon and Kunthea, said he “could not accept” the court’s decision. “Based on the facts, [my clients] were just exercising their freedom of expression on social media through constructive criticism. It was not part of the treason charge,” he said. Choun added he would discuss the case further with his clients and consider an appeal. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court could not be reached for comment. Thorn was arrested by authorities in August 2024 along with more than 100 others amid protests planned against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) regional cooperation agreement, from which the government has since withdrawn. Sixty of those rounded up were charged and imprisoned, including Chanthon and Kunthea, who were deported from Thailand in November 2024 and charged with plotting under Article 453 of the Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of five to 10 years. Thorn, Chanthon and Kunthea were among those charged with plotting, while most of the other defendants were charged and convicted of incitement. Nearly all of those jailed have now been convicted, following Wednesday’s ruling. Local and international human rights groups have decried the jailings as a crackdown on fundamental rights and called for the activists’ release. Chanthon’s younger brother, Mean Davin, called the ruling unjust, saying Chanthon was only exercising his right to freedom of expression. “I can’t accept this sentence. It is very unjust because he did not provoke any problems,” Davin said. “He was only raising concerns about not wanting to lose [land] and wanted to protect it.” Am Sam Ath, operations director at Licadho, also expressed disappointment over the verdict. “We regret the sentencing of Thy Thorn and the others [activists]. We have seen restrictions on fundamental freedoms,” he said. Sam Ath also noted that Thorn’s group, KSILA, is registered with the Interior Ministry as a civil society organization. “We have to distinguish between freedom of expression and offenses, because plotting is a felony that requires solid evidence and can cause serious harm to society. But after the trial, we believe what they did was an exercise of their freedom of expression,” he said.