Three Candlelight leaders have been arrested since election day, with Banteay Meanchey’s party vice president Chao Veasna still detained in the provincial prison, according to Candlelight spokesperson Kimsour Phearith.
“This case should not happen because the election is already finished, we should calm the political situation down, don’t make it too tense,” Phearith said.
Veasna, a former CNRP activist who has been arrested for previous acts of political protest, faces incitement charges, according to his daughter Chao Ratanak, a Candlelight party commune councilor in Poipet.
“I ask the provincial police why [they] detained my father, they said they followed their top boss order under the charge of incitement, but the court did not decide which charge it is yet,” she said.
She said she was certain the charges were politically motivated but added that her father had not participated in the “Sabai” Telegram chat which promoted spoiling ballots, drawing the ire of authorities.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for people promoting the spoiling of ballots in the chat — 44 of whom were identified by name and photo in government-aligned media — to publicly apologize.
“You can come out and confess with the authorities, with the NEC, especially with the authorities, because the movement to spoil the ballot is a crime that must be punished,” he said via Telegram voice message. “Please turn yourself in and confess with the authorities at the nearest place, otherwise legal action will be taken.
Deputy National Police chief and Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet said that no one from the telegram group “Sabai ” had been detained for destroying ballots.
“After Samdech [Hun Sen] issued his statement, the people came out and admitted mistakes, and we resumed our educational efforts,” he said. “There was no arrest made after they apologize publicly, we don’t punish them.”
Sar Thet said that the people behind Telegram group were “outsiders” located abroad. He declined to answer further questions, including about the arrests of Candlelight party members.
Five people linked to the Telegram group have made public apology videos shared by government-aligned media outlet Fresh News.
Phnom Penh based Candlelight activist Thach Chea Chantha was among those who apologized in a video shared by Fresh News.
“I confess my guilt by believing in Sam Rainsy’s incitement abroad impetuously, calling on me to cross through the ballots. I acknowledge all these wrongdoing,” she said. “I plead with Prime Minister Hun Sen to please give me a chance and forgive me. From now on, I promise to join the political affiliation with the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in perpetuity.”
Another member whose Telegram account is named “Chea Serey” also said in a confessional letter to Tram Kak police station in Takeo province, published on Fresh News on Monday. He claimed the Sabai Telegram group chat’s leader, who remains unnamed, had been promised to make him a commune chief for an unspecified party if he spoiled his ballot and incited others to do the same.
“I promise to comply with national law and be ready to be punished if I conduct this wrongdoing again,” Serey said.
Police also rounded up Lor Thorn, Candlelight’s Pailin provincial vice president, arrested by 10 police at his home in Otavao Village on Monday.
Thorn, 69, told CamboJA on Tuesday that he was detained without a proper warrant and questioned about spoiled ballots. He was allowed to return home after signing a contract prohibiting him from involvement in attacks against the government by outsiders.
“They asked me if I had received orders from outside or inside the country through the Sabai Telegram group,” Thorn said. “I told the authorities that I had never heard of these things.”
“I do politics by honesty, in accordance with the law, in accordance with the constitution, what [police] suspect of me makes me upset because it is different from my opinion,” said Thorn, 69. “Before taking any action, they should look at the activities of political parties. I do not just become a politician today, I have done it for half my life already so before doing anything please be accurate and be clear.”
Phearith, Candlelight’s spokesperson, urged the government to stop arresting his party’s members: “I request to stop detaining and arresting them because of political reasons as I see only Candlelight [members] were arrested.
