The Koh Kong Provincial Court on Monday imprisoned Try Sovikea (or Tri Sovichea) and two other activists from environmental NGO Mother Nature, co-founder Sun Mala and Sim Samnang, after a prosecutor charged them with threatening to cause damage during their ongoing campaign against a company. They were arrested on August 17, 2015, 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 having a negative impact on riverbanks and fish stocks in the area. The three are 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 the construction of 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 could lead to flooding in parts of the Areng Valley, displacing the Khmer Daeum indigenous population and destroying the ancestral homes of the valleys inhabitants. The three have also protested against campaigned against Chinese Sinohydro company and International Rainbow Co. Ltd.