"Court hears Rott Mony case", 31 May 2019

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court … heard the civil case of Rath Rott Mony over the filming of the controversial RT documentary My Mother Sold Me, with five plaintiffs demanding between $5,000 and $10,000 each in damages.

The hearing, comprised of Judge Koy Sao, Deputy Prosecutor Vong Bun Visoth and representatives for the absent plaintiffs, heard that Rott Mony circulated video clips on two Facebook accounts that said Cambodian women had sold their daughters’ virginities.

My Mother Sold Me was produced by Russian television network RT…

A Cambodian technical team concluded that the film was factually inaccurate and seriously affected the honour of Cambodian women. The criticism related to the film’s depiction of a Cambodian mother who allegedly sold her daughter’s virginity…

“The posting of this video clip was to advertise a film that looked down on Cambodian women. This is the reason Rath Rott Mony was arrested and charged,” Judge Koy Sao said…

Judge Sao read testimony from the plaintiffs, …, that said Rott Mony had persuaded them to be in the film by telling them it was a documentary to be shown in Russia about the lives of poor families in Cambodia…

However, Rott Mony told the hearing that he was just an interpreter for the Russian producers of the documentary. “I did not persuade the girl to be in the film as I was just an interpreter,” he said.

Lor Chunthy and Sam Titseyha, defence lawyers for Rott Mony, told the judge that to ensure a proper trial, the plaintiffs must be present… The judge postponed the hearing until June 12…