"Three Mother Nature activists charged with incitement", 6 September 2020

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged three environmental activists with incitement to disturb social security …, a move civil society groups have said is meant as a threat to others who dare to criticize the government.

The three activists from the NGO Mother Nature, Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoreaksmey, and Thon Ratha, were arrested … over posts they made on social media saying they planned to march to the prime minister’s house to raise awareness on environmental issues caused by the filling in of Boeng Tamok lake.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Kuch Kimlong said … that three activists were charged under articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, and that the judge had decided to place them in pre-trial detention…

The post made on the Mother Nature Faceook page discussed the group’s plan to protest the filling in of Boeng Tamok lake in northwestern Phnom Penh.

“Ms. Long Kunthea will walk from Wat Phnom … to Samdech Hun Sen’s house near the independence monument dressed in white clothes in order to request to meet Samdech in person to show concern around the filling in of Tamok lake, including flooding in Phnom Penh during rainy season, the environmental impact, the loss of bird habitat and the biodiversity of the lake,” the post reads…

However, Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, the outspoken director of Mother Nature said … that from a legal point of view, the detention of the three activists is completely arbitrary and unlawful….