Commune officials arrested
perhaps next week,” Choungy said. “He is not a flight risk.”
Sor Chandeth, a senator for the Sam Rainsy Party – which merged with the Human Rights Party to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party following the 2012 commune elections – said the case against Veasna is politically motivated.
Veasna is a top CNRP candidate for the upcoming commune elections, he said, and it was widely believed the popular politician could win the position of commune chief. The recent charges could derail his candidacy, however.
“The case isn’t reasonable,” Chandeth noted. “Veasna went to the scene to observe in his capacity as a member of the local authorities.”
Soum Chankea, Adhoc coordinator in Banteay Meanchey, said that he saw Veasna with other local officials when he was monitoring the 2015 protest.
“I asked [ Veasna] why he was there, and he said he wanted to tell the protesters not to be violent, to prevent violence,” Chankea said.
Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, Ly Sokun, an SRP deputy commune chief in Tuol Kork district, was also sent to pre- trial detention for allegedly forging a public document, a charge stemming from an incident in which he allegedly gave an election observer the wrong identification card.
According to Meng Sopheary, Sokun’s lawyer, on the first day of election registra- tion in September, Sokun was put in charge of issuing ID cards for observers. During the process, he put a photograph of one observer onto an ID with another observer’s name, which Sopheary maintained was an honest mistake.
“It was just confusion. He did not mean to forge a docu- ment in his own interest,” Sopheary said, adding that the incident was already being resolved at the commune level and that they had not expected that it would be sent to court.
Sokun could face a jail sentence of between five to 10
I asked [Veasna] why he was there, and he said he wanted to tell the protesters not to be violent
years, she added.
Kol Phanha, executive director of Comfrel, said that the detention of opposition leaders could have a negative impact on the upcoming elections by taking away their opportunity to compete.
“No politician should be detained just because of their work,” he said.