Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
UPDATES:
More than 50 civil society organizations, including the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, called on authorities Thursday to immediately release Chea Vuthy and drop all charges against him.
In a joint statement, the groups said Vuthy’s prosecution rested solely on a private Messenger message sent to about 20 people, which they said could not reasonably justify criminal prosecution, let alone an 18-month sentence.
The groups said the conviction violates Vuthy’s freedom of expression rights under Cambodia’s constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and undermines commitments Cambodia made during its most recent Universal Periodic Review on freedom of expression and press freedom.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday sentenced a defrocked monk and citizen journalist to 18 months in prison for incitement, the latest in a series of arrests targeting people who have criticized the government’s handling of border tensions with Thailand.
The court found Chea Vuthy guilty of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s Criminal Code and fined him around $500. Rights groups say the incitement charge is frequently used to target government critics.
Vuthy, who was arrested in April at a pagoda in Battambang province, had been in pretrial detention since then, and a June bail request was denied. He was detained after posting comments on social media about the border conflict with Thailand and the level of care given to displaced people, according to rights group Licadho.
His case is among dozens involving activists and journalists jailed over comments on, or coverage of, deadly border clashes with Thailand last year.
Vuthy’s lawyer, Em Chantha, said he would appeal the verdict, arguing the evidence was insufficient.
“During the hearing, we saw that the incident did not involve him, and there was not enough evidence against him,” he said.
Chantha also disputed that Vuthy’s comments, which he said were posted in a Messenger group chat, met the legal threshold for public incitement.
Press freedom groups criticized the sentence. “The world will increasingly see Cambodia as a country that continues to restrict freedom of expression,” said Chhan Sokunthea, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media.
“I have observed that the case of Chea Vuthy and other social activists has consistently involved allegations and imprisonment,” she said, calling for Vuthy’s release and for the charges to be dropped.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin could not be reached for comment.
Information Ministry spokesperson Tep Asnarith said the ministry, as part of the executive branch, does not interfere in the courts, which he described as an independent institution with full legal discretion over its own rulings and procedures.
He noted that Vuthy retains the right to legal representation and to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Asnarith also called on civil society groups to weigh the facts and legal basis of such cases “with balance and accuracy.”
The ruling comes as Licadho reported this week that the number of Cambodians imprisoned over their speech or activism has reached a record high, with the group recording 131 such cases in April, a level it said has remained elevated through August.
