Radio Station Owner Implicated in ‘Secessionist’ Movement

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday implicated Mam Sonando, owner of the independent Beehive Radio station, in an alleged secessionist movement in Kratie province and announced the government’s intentions to arrest him. … “Now, we compete with the ringleader of the Democrats Association, which created the state within a state and canceled a village to create seven other villages and distributed land to the people,” Mr. Hun Sen said. … Residents of Kratie province’s Broma village and human rights groups have all denied the government’s claims of a secessionist movement. More than 200 armed security personnel raided the village on May 16, evicted some 600 families involved in the land dispute with the rubber plantation and shot dead a 14-year old girl, Heng Chantha, during the operation. … Soon after the May 16 raid on Broma village, the government issued arrest warrants for Mr. Ratha and four other villagers suspected of helping mastermind the alleged secessionist movement. …