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Second Deputy Commune Chief Nhean Sarom, previously elected in Oddar Meanchey province as a candidate for the opposition Candlelight Party, was arrested earlier this month and charged with incitement and insult over remarks made in a private phone call, rights group Licadho said in a report published Monday.
The arrest has stoked privacy concerns and reinforced longstanding worries among rights groups over freedom of expression in Cambodia.
Sarom’s charges stem from a phone conversation with a former colleague, who was also arrested in early August and charged with the same offense, Licadho said. The colleague was identified only as Reaksmey, a Candlelight Party member from Anlong Veng district, according to Sarom’s wife, Suon Sineoun, who said she could not confirm his family name.
Sarom is being held in Oddar Meanchey provincial prison. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison and a fine of about 6 million riel ($1,500).
Sineoun said her husband was arrested after Reaksmey disclosed details of their conversation, which was critical of public services and development in the province.
“I am worried and afraid for him because he has kidney disease and high blood pressure, and I am afraid that he may be mistreated,” she said. “I ask that my husband be released. He has done nothing wrong.”
Kim Sour Phirith, a spokesperson for the Candlelight Party, said the arrests appeared to violate Cambodia’s constitution and that the court should consider Sarom’s release.
He said the alleged monitoring of a private conversation “should not happen,” adding that continued arrests could intimidate candidates ahead of commune elections next year.
Korn Savang, coordinator at election watchdog Comfrel, said he was concerned that private conversations were being used as the basis for criminal charges.
“Every individual has the right and freedom to express opinions and maintain their privacy,” he said.
Around 50 opposition politicians and political activists are currently jailed on charges related to their public statements or activism, according to Licadho.
“The most commonly used charge is incitement, which I think shows that the political environment is not free or fair for local politicians who dare to identify themselves or campaign for an opposition party,” Phirith said.
Licadho operations director Am Sam Ath said the continued arrests of opposition activists could raise concerns that political space in Cambodia was shrinking.
“In this case, if two people were simply having a conversation, it should not become grounds for their arrest because they were talking on the phone. It is their privacy,” Sam Ath said. “As a civil society organization, we ask the court to carefully examine what constitutes freedom of expression and what constitutes political freedom.”
