The Koh Kong Provincial Court in Cambodia imprisoned co-founder Sun Mala and two other activists from environmental NGO Mother Nature, Try Sovikea (or Tri Sovichea) and Sim Samnang, after a prosecutor charged them with threatening to cause damage during their ongoing campaign against a company. On August 17, 2015, they were arrested for their involvement in protests against a company registered in Cambodia called "Direct Access," accused of illegally dredging sand in Koh Kong Province. The sand is then sent to Singapore, but the operation is being blamed for harming riverbanks and fish stocks in the area. The company filed a complaint against the defenders. They were accused of "threatening to cause destruction, defacement or damage" and "ordering others to do so" under Article 424 of the Criminal Code. Their local environmental group is known for its efforts to stop illegal sand dredging and constructing a controversial hy­dropower dam in Koh Kong Province. They believe that the proposed dam will cause massive social and environmental damage in the region and lead to flooding in parts of the Areng Valley, displacing the Khmer Daeum indigenous population and destroying the valleys' ancestral homes. Ltd. On July 1, 2016, Judge Min Meakra of the Koh KongProvincial Court convicted Messrs. Try Sovikea, Sun Mala and Sim Samnang with were sentenced for "threatening to cause destruction, defacement or damage followed by an order" under Articles 28 and 424 of the Criminal Code. The sentence included 18 months' imprisonment and the payment of a two million riel (about US$500) fine as well as a 100 million riel (about $25,000) compensation payment to the company. As their ten months and 15 days' pre-trial detention was considered time served and the remainder of the sentence was suspended, the three were released from prison. The company has been dissolved.