‘Secession’ Leader Says He Will Return to Cambodia, Stage Protest
The convicted ringleader of a so-called secessionist movement in May in Kratie province, who is currently in self-imposed exile to avoid a 30-year prison sentence, has said that he will soon return to Cambodia to organize a large-scale demonstration against the government. Bun Ratha—who was sentenced in absentia during a joint trial with popular radio station owner Mam Sonando in October fled to Thailand after government security forces violently evicted hundreds of families living in Kratie’s Broma village, ostensibly to quell a rural uprising. Although he never visited Broma, Mr. Sonando is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for his role as the movement’s figurehead. … Mr. Ratha said that families evicted from Broma village were already planning to stage a protest with him. “They are still hot-tempered, because they lost their land, money, motorbikes, houses and so on. They are planning to stage a protest with me,” he said. …
