Chhorn Phalla is one of the indigenous Bunong villagers who, along with Pen Bunna, senior land and natural resources officer for rights group Adhoc, was summoned by the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has summoned. They were summoned along with 7 other villagers, to be present for questioning next month on grounds of “incitement to commit crimes”. The court warrant said he was accused of “incitement to commit crimes” in Seda commune’s Samut Krom village in Lumphat district. Bunna said that he is prepared to appear in court, claiming he is innocent of all accusations. He said he was at a meeting in Phnom Penh, while ethnic indigenous communities were patrolling the forest, where they had observed illegal forestry crimes taking place. One of the accused villagers claimed the counter suits came after the community filed a lawsuit against the local authorities for failing to clamp down on forest crimes, as well as colluding with Vietnamese nationals to log illegally: “They [the local authorities] are not happy with us, the protectors of the forest. I think any villager who comes forward to protect the forest are enemies of the authorities".