Adhoc seeking solution
Teacher linked to KNLF in hiding
A PHNOM Penh primary school teacher has gone into hiding after being summonsed to court for rallying support among her students for the Khmer National Liberation Front, a Cambodian political party based in Denmark that has been branded a “terrorist” organisation by the government.
Pheng Sokunthea, a teacher at Boeung Trabek Khang Tboung Primary School in Chamkarmon district, was called to appear yesterday at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, according to a summons letter, which accused her of giving out anti-government leaflets and collecting thumbprints from students to support the KNLF’s cause.
The letter, signed by Municipal Prosecutor Tob Chhun Long on May 2, says the incident took place in March.
A letter purportedly from the school director, Chhay Narin, that was circulated online, suggested the teacher’s political activities had come to the attention of the school’s management.
The Education Ministry expressly bans political material at educational institutions. Reached yesterday, however, Narin denied sending out such a letter and said she was unaware of the matter.
Speaking by phone, Sokunthea confirmed she was a member of the KNLF, which is led by Denmark-based Sam Serey, who last year announced the formation of a “government in exile”.
Serey was among 11 KNLF members sentenced in December to between five and nine years for “plotting an attack” against the government, though the group strongly denied the charges.
Sokunthea acknowledged handing out KNLF literature and said she had gone into hiding after the summons emerged. “I collected thumbprints, distributed booklets called The Root of 7 January and leaflets,” she said.
Court officials could not be reached for comment.
RIGHTS group Adhoc yesterday said it is considering taking legal action against Koh Kong police officials who took down banners calling for the release of the so-called Adhoc 5, though the group said it would prefer to find a solution with the police before exercising that option.
Last week, police in Koh Kong province’s Smach Meanchey district removed banners bearing the portraits of four current and one former Adhoc staffer, who have been in pretrial detention for more than a year. The next day, police in Sre Am- bel district removed signs from three villagers’ homes.
Soeng Sen Karuna, senior investigator for Adhoc, said the group will discuss with two other NGOs whose signs were removed – Licadho and Mother Nature – whether or not to file a legal complaint accusing the police officers of theft.
“We are trying to find a solution because we don’t trust the courts,” he said. “We will issue a joint statement to condemn the action of those police officials in Koh Kong.”
Smach Meanchey District Police Chief Min Reaksmey said the NGOs could issue statements or file a complaint but that the groups had not sought permission from local authori- ties before putting up the signs.
Meanwhile, the United States State Department on Friday expressed concern about the five’s detention and said it supports previous statements released by the European Union and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights criticising the government’s treatment of the jailed rights workers.
“The United States encourages the Government of Cambodia to consider carefully these recommendations and respect its relevant international human rights obligations,” the statement reads, referring to the findings by a UN working group last November calling the case “arbitrary”.