Phnom Penh Municipal Court postponed the Paris Peace Agreement activists’ trial on incitement charges pending their Court of Appeal case on February 25 where they are appealing against the ruling to split their cases.
The activists were charged with incitement to disturb social security last July after a live broadcast of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) on Facebook, which sparked protests and online criticisms.
Seven out of 37 defendants, including activist Srun Srorn of the Paris Peace Agreement, were brought to court for Tuesday’s hearing.
Srorn, dressed in an orange prison uniform, showed up for the first time in the courtroom since the trial began in December last year. He was hugged by supporters who attended the trial.
“I am fine, [we] have to maintain our knowledge,” Srorn told his supporters. “If [the court] does not find [any evidence of] my incitement charge, where I can file a complaint about my detention in jail for six to seven months,” he said.
Another activist San Piseth raised a question relating to his incitement charge for exercising his freedom of expression through Facebook. “How did I commit incitement on Facebook,” he asked.
Responding to them, Judge Nhem Pisal said their case on whether they committed incitement will be heard on another date. “We are waiting for the Court of Appeal’s decision,” he said.
Defense lawyer Son Chumchuon did not attend Tuesday’s hearing, stating that the Court of Appeal already scheduled a date to hear the appeal against the splitting of the case into five separate trials at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
Regarding the splitting of the case, Chumchuon said it would prolong the hearing, thus affecting the activists’ right to a fair trial. He added that all the defendants are part of a single case with the same charge, which is “not complicated” as claimed by the prosecutor.
Tum Lida, a supporter from Battambang province, said people have the right to be concerned about territorial sovereignty, an issue relating to the CLV-DTA where positive and negative points surrounding it were highlighted by Srun Srorn.
“It is a citizen’s right to freedom of expression as stipulated in the Constitution,” she said.
Senior investigator of NGO rights group Adhoc Yi Soksan, who attended the trial, urged the court to release the activists who were exercising their right to freedom of expression on the issue of the regional development area.
“They have been placed in pretrial detention in different places [prisons] to break their spirit, which we see as [a form of] persecution [on those] who dare to express their opinion,” he said.
Soksan said freedom of expression is crucial for the upholding of democracy in a country like Cambodia as it reflects a developing society.
Some 100 people have been arrested since late July with more than 60 charged and imprisoned for protesting on social media, planning to assemble, or expressing their sentiments of involvement in a case of CLV-DTA.
The government announced its withdrawal from the 20-year CLV-DTA on September 20, following protests and online criticism.
The CLV-DTA was established in 1999 to promote social-economic development, economic cooperation and closer relationships with the heads of government of three countries. In Cambodia, border provinces Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri and Kratie, were initially designated to benefit from the agreement.
