On 10 November, Ratanakiri Provincial Court of First Instance sentenced environmental activist Chhorn Phalla on charges of clearing state forest land to five year in prison. Phalla had returned to the province in February after being allegedly attacked and beaten at a public forum in July last year. Civil society groups decried what they described as an attempt to silence an activist who had been working to protect Cambodia’s natural resources and indigenous land. On 15 November, 85 CSOs called for the releases of Chhorn Phalla and other activists and for their charges be dropped.