Three detained land rights activists from the Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community (CCFC) were released on bail Tuesday evening after confessing to plotting and incitement and publicly apologizing to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
“The court has granted for bailing three of them by putting them under court supervision,” said Ratanakiri provincial court spokesperson Keo Pisoth, who declined to provide further comment.
CCFC president Theng Savoeun and his two colleagues, Nhel Pheap and Than Hach, were held in custody since May 17 after participating in a CCFC workshop in Ratanakiri, which authorities said was part of a plot to incite a “peasant revolution.” The three were pulled off a bus returning to Phnom Penh and placed in pretrial detention last week. The Ratanakiri court also filed the same charges on May 24 against independent researcher Chan Vibol, who has evaded custody.
“I appeal to members of the farming community, please don’t participate in assemblies of the extreme political party to act illegally” said Savoeun, accompanied by his two colleagues, in a video clip posted on government-aligned Freshnews media online on Tuesday evening after their release from prison.
“Please use your right to vote in the upcoming election in July…to join in building peace and public security for improving together,” he said.
On May 27, Freshnews posted a video clip of Savoeun, standing with his wife and mother, confessing his crimes and apologizing to Hun Sen. He said that unnamed foreigners were behind CCFC’s plotting to disturb public security.
“I believed some foreigners and a group of opposition politicians tried to incite farmers to gather and overthrow the government without my realizing it,” he said in the clip.
CCFC acting director Meun Rathana said that the association’s Phnom Penh office has been temporarily shut down since May 26.
“We are worried about the future of the staff, but right now they are still getting a salary,” Rathana said.
There are 21 staff members, and they will remain working online but will conduct no in-person activities, he said.
Rathana believed that Savoeun’s confession was related to his “personal issues” and did not represent CCFC as an association.
“Usually, when people are being detained in prison, they might get some pressure, and what they have said, it does not come from their will,” he said.
“Some personal issues are not related to the institution, but we know it will have an influence because he is a president, and his message will impact the association,” Rathana said.
He said on Tuesday that he plans to meet with Savoeun.
CCFC Koh Kong representative Det Hou said that she and others ended their protests on Saturday.
“One day after the video was released [May 27], Nhel Pheap called me to stop demonstrating because it might cause public dismay and disorder,” Hou told CamboJA on Tuesday.
“I think that the court might have asked them to confess,” Hou said. “There must be something behind the scenes.”
Hou believed that her three CCFC colleague’s confessions were the result of intimidation and threats against them.
“I think what the three did, they because they had to do it for their release,” Hou said. “He [Savoeun] didn’t confess his mistake from his heart, he must have been forced because he did not do anything wrong.”
Additional reporting by Eung Sea.
