"Villagers file suit against wildlife chief over logging", 7 May 2019

The director of Mondulkiri province’s Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuary, Han Sokhon, is set to face legal action from an indigenous community.

The villagers allege he colluded to exploit the very forest he was meant to safeguard after villagers discovered illegal logging in the protected area.

The 105 Bunong families are also preparing to file a complaint against him with the provincial court and the Ministry of Environment for threatening the patrol team that came across the deforestation, a representative told ... Han Sokhon is said to have arrived there to protect the loggers, and is alleged to have threatened to have the villagers arrested, said Prang Nop, the representative…

“He threatened us. He said if anyone protested, he would have them imprisoned. He also said he could have us evicted from the village at any time. I am nearly 70 years old. No one has ever dared insult me like this. There would be nothing left of this forest now without our efforts,” Nop said…

Keo Sopheak, the director of the provincial Department of Environment, hung up the phone...

Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra told … that he had not been informed of the case. “I need to check on the issue. If they have a complaint, they can forward it to me. I cannot tell you anything more at the moment,” Pheaktra said.

Eang Mengly, the provincial coordinator for right groups Adhoc, said … that he was aware of the matter but hadn’t been informed of the details…