A youth who claimed to be a member of Continue A Journey Team “confessed” her mistake, and accused law expert Vorn Chan Lout of allegedly intending to overthrow the government by planning the anti-Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) protest. However, Chan Lout has denied the accusation.
In a two-minute video posted by online media Fresh News on September 24, Chean Sona said she and Vorn Chan Lout have organized “secret training” about 20 times since June 2023.
She said the training was intended to provoke a “color revolution movement” in Cambodia, notably on August 18, 2024, by assembling youths and monks to study the color revolution in Myanmar, Ukraine and Bangladesh. It was to be led by Chan Lout, she alleged.
“I confess that I was tricked to believe a person named Vorn Chan Lout, who has a close alliance with Alex, a foreign national who intended to destroy peace by overthrowing the government,” Sona said.
She said she “regretted what she had done in the past” and pleaded with Senate president Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet to pardon her in order to be free from the prison.
Meanwhile, Chan Lout rejected the allegations and called on the government to stop employing the “culture of blaming innocent people”.
“[…] Forcing her [Sona] to exaggerate the truth and frame other people. This is a bad culture, and leaders [like these] should be eliminated,” he said.
“I am not surprised seeing a youth named Sona releasing a video clip. Even though there is an accusation against me, it isn’t her real purpose.
“In relation to accusing me of an involvement with Alex, and providing training to organize a color revolution, particularly on the 18th [of August]; it isn’t true,” Chan Lout added.
In July, co-founder of Mother Nature Cambodia Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison for insulting the King and plotting to overthrow the government.
Chan Lout said he planned to hold a training on August 18, which was a regular training conducted monthly to provide space for free thinkers to share their thoughts but it was canceled as the venue owner did not permit the event from taking place.
The training was organized to talk about the situation in Ukraine, Bangladesh and several Middle-east countries, and help young people understand the risk and avoid joining any movements as rebels or terrorists.
He was initiated to create “Continue A Journey Team” which was joined by youth volunteers to attend a free thinker forum where they can share information on social issues. The forum was held every third week of the month and was not a secret event as accused.
As of September 26, about 12 men and women confessed their mistakes for sharing information and planning to join the anti-CLV-DTA demonstration on August 18, Fresh News video clips showed.
According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), over 100 people have been arrested since late July, with more than 60 charged and imprisoned for posting on social media, planning to assemble, or expressing their opinion about the CLV-DTA.
Lichado operations director Am Sam Ath opined that training and sharing knowledge about human rights, democratic process, non-violence advocacy, and other issues in society, to youths was not an offense.
“I think that this is just a general study of other countries, and they were just comparing [the situation]. It isn’t breaking the law because in the world there are countries upholding democracy and communism,” he said.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona declined to elaborate but briefly mentioned that Sona’s confession does not involve the government.
