Six imprisoned opposition officials in Cambodia were questioned by judges on Thursday over charges they led an insurrection movement and incited others to commit violence after protesters attacked security guards during a rally on Tuesday. Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) vice president Kem Sokha was today also summonsed to appear in court for questioning on July 25 over the incident.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court levied the charges against the group on Wednesday, along with at least two other opposition officials and an unknown number of “accomplices”. All six were sent to Prey Sar prison. If found guilty, they could face up to 30 years in jail.
Defense lawyer Sam Sokong said the investigating judges arrived at Prey Sar on Thursday morning to question the six.
“All of them tell me they are innocent and not guilty because they did not commit the crime the prosecutor accuses them of,” he said.
Violence broke out on the morning of June 15 at an opposition-led rally to call for the restoration of freedom of assembly, which the government abruptly banned in January. District security guards, who have a reputation for violence, began hitting protesters. The protesters then struck back, isolating and beating a number of guards. Police say 37 were injured in the attack, including at least three who remain in critical condition.
Though the CNRP quickly condemned the violence, and several officials could be seen physically preventing the beatings, lawmakers-elect Mu Sochua, Keo Phirum, and Men Sothavrin were arrested as they left the rally on Tuesday, while Ho Vann, also a lawmaker-elect, was arrested when attempting to visit the trio at police headquarters.
Lawmaker-elect Real Camerin was arrested in Battambang province Wednesday morning while driving to Phnom Penh, and the sixth – activist Oeur Narith, a staffer for Sochua – was pulled from a car near the court. Two other lawmakers elect – Long Ry and Nuth Rumduol – were also charged, but not arrested.
Lawyers will be meeting shortly to discuss filing bail appeals, Sokong said.
Asked whether he thought his clients could receive a fair trial, Sokong said it would be based on the quality of the investigation.
Rights groups however were less circumspect. In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all six and said it had little doubt the charges were “politically-motivated”.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said the arrests and charges were a way to hold the opposition hostage as political negotiations continue to drag out. The opposition CNRP has been boycotting parliament for almost a year, claiming that the ruling Cambodian People's Party stole the July 28, 2013 elections.
“This is all about the government seizing political advantage rather than seriously investigating and prosecuting both the members of the district guards as well as the opposition activists who used violence,” he wrote in an email.
“The sudden move to arrest senior opposition MPs is all about the government trying to scapegoat the leadership of the CNRP for the violence that occurred and knock them out of action politically with ridiculously trumped up charges like 'insurrection’.”
The government, for its part, has brushed aside such criticisms, holding press conferences to defend the arrests and meeting with foreign envoys to explain the charges against the officials, at least four of whom hold dual citizenship.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Council of Ministers issued a statement “to inform our compatriots and the international public” of the situation.
“The Royal Government condemns the savage violence, which seriously violated the law and caused social unrest, and which was led, directed and instigated by several elected CNRP parliamentary candidates.”