Shoe thrower charged, faces jail time in K Speu

THE Kampong Speu Provincial Court has issued an arrest warrant for a former garment worker who threw her sandal at a billboard featuring the face of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The document, signed by Kampong Speu Investigating Judge Sueng Vuthy yesterday, accuses Sam Sokha of insulting a public official under Article 502 of the Criminal Code, and incitement to discriminate under articles 494 and 496.

The charges carry a potential maximum jail sentence of three years and six days.

The document “orders the authorities at all levels to arrest and bring the accused Sam Sokha, female, 38 . . . to the court of first instance to proceed with the case according to the law”.

Sokha was summonsed by the court in April, days after she uploaded a video to her Facebook account of her throwing her shoe at the roadside billboard in Kampong Speu in an act of political protest.

In a message yesterday, the 38-year-old, who fled her

My mother fainted when she heard the news

home after the summons and remains in hiding, said she was “very concerned”.

“My mother fainted when she heard the news,” Sokha said, adding she was worried her family would face consequences too, with the court summonsing her mother and sister-in-law to appear at the court on July 5 and 6.