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Forty seven NGOs urged authorities to drop the criminal charge against Thy Thorn, vice president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), and several other activists, and release them immediately and unconditionally.
In a joint statement on Monday, the groups also called for an end to all forms of persecution against activists, and for people to have the space to exercise their rights and freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
A seven-year prison sentence was handed down to 25-year-old Thorn on September 2 for plotting charges, which NGOs said was a “disproportionate punishment” for his commitment to peaceful activism.
“We, the undersigned civil society group, are deeply pained by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision,” they said. “A seven-year prison sentence for Thorn is an arbitrary and unjust punishment.”
In August 2024, Thorn was arrested following public protests and social media campaigns opposing the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), a regional cooperation agreement from which the government later withdrew itself.
Thorn was among the more than 94 people arrested, charged and imprisoned for allegedly opposing the agreement. In that time, he has had his request for bail and early release rejected by both lower and higher courts, including the Supreme Court.
Thorn is well-known for his social and environmental activism, joining campaigns calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun, five Mother Nature environmental activists, and the freeing of youth leader and KSILA president Koet Saray, according to the statement.
He also called on the government to halt illegal sand dredging, designate Koh Kong Krao island as a national park, and raised awareness about civil and political rights.
Thorn’s trial did not demonstrate any evidence of plotting against the state, the statement read. His sentence serves as a “deterrent” for all Cambodians, who have the right under national and international law to express themselves and their opinions on important topics affecting the nation.
“The government must respect that right. Peaceful social and environmental activism is not a crime,” the groups mentioned.
Human Rights Watch raised concern over “long prison sentences on baseless charges” and called Cambodia to immediately release Thorn and others, and quash their convictions.
Thorn’s father, Moeun Thy, told CamboJA News that the court’s decision to sentence his son to seven years in prison was unreasonable because there was no evidence against him. He said his son was merely exercising his rights and doing his part to address social issues.
“For me, the court’s decision to sentence my son is very unfair. I cannot accept it because treason is a serious charge, but there is nothing to show that my son was involved in a conspiracy to commit treason.”
Thy said he has continued to wait for his son during the two years of his detention, and hoped that the court and government would one day drop the charges and release him.
Thorn’s family spends about 500,000 riel, roughly $125, every month to visit him at Prey Sar Prison and send him food, personal supplies and medicine. Thorn has a chronic illness and needs to take medication regularly. His parents have struggled to save the money and sometimes borrow from relatives to cover expenses.
“For two years, I have been waiting and missing my son. Even when I go to work in the fields, I think about him. Now that it is the Pchum Ben season and families come together, I miss him more and feel pity for him because of his chronic illness,” Thy said.
Am Sam Ath, operations director of human rights group Licadho, expressed concern over Thorn’s seven-year prison sentence, saying that the punishment was “severe” for a young activist who works on social issues, human rights, the environment, natural resources and forest protection.
He alleged that the court case appeared to have lacked evidence to support the charge of conspiracy to commit treason under Article 453 of the Criminal Code.
“On the contrary, Thorn’s activities in the past were simply [related to] the exercise of fundamental rights and other freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights laws that Cambodia has ratified.”
Sam Ath said those who have been “arrested, charged, detained and sentenced in connection with protests and criticism over the agreement should be released”, arguing that their continued detention is of no benefit to the government. It has instead drawn criticism from the international community.
The United Nations special rapporteur recently said that “nobody should be held behind bars” because they are exercising their fundamental rights, and freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
Licadho labeled 2025 as a “dark year for freedom of expression”. At least 82 arrests were related to freedom of expression, with 76 people still detained in prisons, as of December 31, 2025. They were arrested after expressing their opinion, mostly on social media.
