Court Hears Anti-Government Movement Case
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday began hearing the appeal of six men sentenced to between 15 and 17 years jail in 2011 for forming an armed anti-government force called the Sovanna Phum, or Golden Village, in 2006. The men‚ Chea Sarann, 51; Liv Soksovann, 51; Phlort Ry, 62; Chum Vichey, 44; Yom Hev, 43; and Port Phor, 48‚ were arrested in March 2011 and charged under Article 463 of the penal code for the creation of an illegal anti-government force. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found the group guilty in December 2011 and sentenced Mr. Sarann, the leader, to 17 years in prison, and gave reduced 15-year sentences of to the rest of group. … Over the years, the government has publicly decried and prosecuted groups deemed a threat to national security. But with the exception of the Cambodian Freedom Fighter, which staged a bloody raid on CPP offices that killed eight people in 2000, none of them ever engaged in any violence. Instead, many of them were caught committing acts of a far less violent nature such as distributing information critical of the administration of Prime Minister Hun Sen. …
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-hears-anti-government-movement-case-44155/
