Authorities in Cambodia’s Pursat province have taken two activist supporters of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) into custody, prompting the wife of one of the men to call the arrests “politically motivated” and demand their immediate release.
Chan Sophal and his colleague Tuon Sam Ath were arrested in Pursat’s Veal Veng district on the evening of May 28 for alleged engagement in illegal logging and are being held at the provincial prison, Chan Sophal’s wife Pen Savorn told RFA’s Khmer Service on Wednesday. The two men have yet to obtain legal counsel.
RFA was unable to reach provincial court spokesmen Heng Doning or Long Sitha to discuss the arrest of the activists, while Veal Veng district police chief Theang Leng refused to comment Wednesday.
Keo Kim Srong, provincial coordinator for local rights group Licadho, confirmed that the two men had been arrested for “encroaching on state forest land.”
He said that while he is still investigating the details of their case, he believes the arrests could be connected to an earlier order from Prime Minister Hun Sen for authorities in the province to “keep their eyes” on activists connected to the CNRP.