Provincial police force and district authorities have set up barricades to check on people traveling from one area to another, restricting entry of groups to Phnom Penh to prevent “extremist groups” from organizing a so-called color revolution on August 18 to “topple the government”.
At the time of writing, around 14 people have been arrested for allegedly inciting people to revolt against the government, according to National Police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun.
“We have strengthened the armed forces nationwide to prevent collective [groups] from persuading people to hold demonstrations. They posted messages to persuade […] we deployed armed forces to educate people and prevent them from engaging in unlawful activities,” Kim Khoeun told CamboJA News on Friday.
“We plan to manage the situation across the country and station armed forces in Phnom Penh to ‘welcome’ them,” he said.
The call for strict enforcement stems from a Telegram channel called “Roub Roum Dermbei Cheat”, which has since been deleted.
Its participants planned a demonstration on August 18 to protest against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Areas (CLV-DTA) agreement in Phnom Penh.
Candlelight Party activist Sok Chea, 35, in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district, who was arrested on August 15, has been charged with plotting by the provincial court, said Veal Veng district police Theang Leng.
Candlelight Party secretary general Ly Sothearayuth confirmed that Sok Chea was arrested for allegedly posting a message “not to support the CLV-DTA”. He was a candidate for the Pamoy commune council election.
He said the party has instructed all its members to focus on party affairs to strengthen the party’s structure.
Barricades, ongoing checks
Kampong Cham province Srey Santhor district police set up barricades to check vehicles and tuk tuk carrying passengers, Kampuchea Thmey Daily reported.
Kampong Cham provincial police chief Heng Vuthy said it is the duty of the police to ensure the security and safety of people.
“There is nothing strange [about this] because our force is in charge of security and public order,” he added.
Kampong Chhnang provincial governor Sun Sovannarith said the police force always monitored traffic along the streets, which is the duty of the commissioner.
“At the moment, local people seem to have no [activity] because the working group abroad is inciting [people] to overthrow the government […] our locals support the government [in the country] as it has development, the people know this,” he said.
Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou told CamboJA News that there was no enforcement on security checks, only regular security checks on people.
“The barricades will be put in place for a long time. If we do not set up, how can we ensure people’s security and public order?” he said.
Kampong Thom provincial governor Nuon Pharath told CamboJA News that there was no travel ban in Kampong Thom province.
“There are no barricades or roadblock, they only have the usual [police] checks on traffic,” he said, declining to comment further.
Ou Chanrath, vice president of Cambodia Reform Party, one of the coalition opposition parties, learnt that some Candlelight Party members were arrested for allegedly expressing their opinion over the CLV-DTA.
“Generally, I am worried if there is an intention to exercise their opinion on CLV-DTA project development,” he said.
He urged the government to be patient and provide more explanation to people who have concerns to understand the issue.
“I am not blaming those who are concerned about the territory [as] there is a historical issue that has made Khmer people concerned about territory,” Chanrath said.
However, he believed that a color revolution would not happen in Cambodia.
“I don’t think that there is enough force to topple the government which I believe is impossible because the majority of people do not have this idea, and there is no force to support [them] from state institutions,” Chanrath said.
(Additional reporting by Soeung Nimol)
