News Coverage of Treason Trial

NRP | 1 January 2021

ខ្ញុំ ទើបតែ បានបញ្ចប់ ការសំភាសន៍ តាមប្រព័ន្ធ Skype ជាមួយ ប្រព័ន្ធផ្សព្វផ្សាយ ព័ត៌មាន ដ៏លេចធ្លោ របស់ សហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក អមដោយអ្នកកាសែតខ្មែរ ដែលមានកេរ្តិ៍ឈ្មោះម្នាក់ មកផ្ទះខ្ញុំ ជួយសំភាសន៍។ ខ្ញុំ បានព្យាយាម ចូលទៅក្នុង ស្មារតី បុណ្យណូអែល, ប៉ុន្តែ វា ហាក់ដូច ជាពណ៌ក្រហម ប្រែជាពណ៌ទឹកក្រូច ច្រើនជាង។ Just finished a Skype interview with a prominent US news establishment, accompanied by a well-respected Khmer journalist to my home assisting the interview. Tried to get into the Christmas spirit but it appears the red is more orange.

6 January 2021                                   31 December 2020

Mr. Hun's Security Forces Very Active During the Holiday Season

working overtime (including thugs who break children piggy banks and damage other property) leading to Christmas and New Year. I hope Mr. Hun is adhering to the labor law and giving them their OT and holiday benefits.

On 21 December 2020, the authority came to force Kung Raiya and his wife to a health clinic for Covid testing and quarantine for 14 days.

Alexandre Solzhenitsyn

But let us not forget that violence does not and cannot exist by itself: It is invariably intertwined with the lie. They are linked in the most intimate, most organic and profound fashion: Violence cannot conceal itself behind anything except lies, and lies have nothing to maintain them save violence. Anyone who has once proclaimed violence as his method must inexorably choose the lie as his principle. At birth, violence acts openly and even takes pride in itself. But as soon as it gains strength and becomes firmly established, it begins to sense the air around it growing thinner; it can no longer exist without veiling itself in a mist of lies, without concealing itself behind the sugary words of falsehood. No longer does violence always and necessarily lunge straight for your throat; more often than not it demands of its subjects only that they pledge allegiance to lies, that they participate in falsehood.

The simple act of an ordinary brave man is not to participate in lies, not to support false actions!

Thanksgiving Day, 26 Nov. 2020

Associated Press | 14 November 2020

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia’s government has targeted about 50 people in its most concerted legal offensive against its political opponents since 2017, according to copies of court summonses seen Friday. They all were charged with treason for taking part in nonviolent anti-government activities over the past three years.

One of the best known of the group is Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer who has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government.

According to a summons she posted Friday on her Facebook page, she is to appear at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Nov. 26 to stand trial for conspiracy to commit treason and incitement to commit a felony. If convicted, she could face up to 12 years in prison.

[...]

Theary Seng has accused Hun Sen’s government of abusing human rights and being undemocratic. Hun Sen has been in power for 35 years and has often been accused of heading an authoritarian regime. Several Western nations have imposed sanctions on his government, mainly after concluding that Cambodia’s 2018 general election was neither free nor fair. The harshest measure came from the European Union, which this year withdrew some preferential trading privileges.

In 2017, Hun Sen upended the country’s politics with a wide-ranging crackdown on his opponents. Virtually all critical media outlets were forced to close or tone down their coverage, and the sole credible opposition political party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was forced by the high court to disband and its lawmakers were removed from Parliament. Many people believe the court acted to ensure that Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won the 2018 general election, which it did by sweeping all the seats.

Theary Seng, who currently resides in Cambodia, said she is not an official of the dissolved opposition party, but “vocal, strong, public supporter of its policy and leadership.”

“Needless to say, the charges against them are completely bogus as well,” she added.

She described the charges against her as ”trumped-up by this Hun Sen regime in its attempt to intimidate and silence me. They would be laughable if not for the prison term that could, and most likely would, see me languishing inside Cambodia’s notorious prisons for decades.”

“Without a doubt, I am determined to appear, I WILL APPEAR in person in court on Thursday, 26 November 2020. I will appear and represent myself for the court hearing,” she wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

She said that a well-known international human rights lawyer, Jared Genser — an American who she said had been her classmate in law school — has agreed to represent her, but it was doubtful he would be able to attend court sessions, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions or the possibility of being banned from entering Cambodia.

Excerpts

University of Michigan Law School alum Theary Seng cut her hair live on Radio Free Asia this past Thursday. It was not for fashion but convenience: should she go to jail the next week, she wanted to be prepared to deal with lice....

According to Jared Genser, a fellow Michigan Law alum who has worked with political dissidents, this is a violation of both Cambodian and international law. Genser is representing Seng pro bono. “What’s happening to Theary is, unfortunately, part of a much bigger pattern and practice of repression of human rights in Cambodia,” he said.

Seng’s former Michigan Law classmate Glenn Kaminsky organized a GoFundMe to pay for her legal expenses. They have crowdfunded a little under $13,000 as of Monday afternoon.... Public Policy professor John Ciorciari, an expert on international law who worked on memory and justice efforts in Cambodia, praised Seng’s advocacy.

“Everyone in the sector knows Theary,” Ciorciari said. “She’s a very vocal opponent of the government, and has been courageous in criticizing the government even during these last several years when criticizing the government has been a particularly risky proposition.”

អាន ជាភាសា ខ្មែរ

RFA Khmer: "Miss Seng Theary cuts her own hair to show she is prepared to go to prison"

VOA Khmer | 24 Nov. 2020

PHNOM PENH – Rights advocate and lawyer Seng Chan Theary recollects how it was political and ideological differences that got her parents killed by the Khmer Rouge in Svay Rieng province in the 1970s.

Now, she believes her political affiliation to the Cambodia National Rescue Party is the reason she is one of close to 140 people invited to attend trial hearings scheduled to begin Thursday about allegations of incitement and conspiracy to topple the government.

“This is what I think,” Seng Theary, 50, told VOA Khmer from her home in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district. “I am not sure what I did as I am in the dark about the details of the cases where I am charged.”

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has summoned at least 138 people to attend trial hearings starting Nov. 26, over a variety of charges. The defendants, who include senior party leaders, supporters and former CNRP officials, face at least one of the following charges: incitement, attack against the government and conspiracy to topple the government.

At least 58 officials, many of whom are exiled overseas, have been summoned to attend the first hearing on Thursday, including Seng Theary. The Cambodian-American activist, who used to lead the Center for Social Development in Phnom Penh, said she was unware of the exact reasons for the charges but assumes it is linked to her support of the “nine-finger campaign.”

The campaign was launched in September 2019 to support the return of exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy in November last year. His attempted return was unsuccessful in part due to travel bans enforced by the Cambodian government.

Seng Theary supported the campaign by posting a photo of herself holding up nine fingers on social media.

“I did join the nine-finger campaign last year, which was a worldwide campaign, that I did join both in the country and during my participation in a conference in Norway,” she said.

“I never denied that as I am a supporter for Cambodia National Rescue Party in my private capacity in which there is no secret about that.”

The CNRP was dissolved by court order in 2017 for allegedly attempting to mount a color revolution against the government and 118 of its senior officials banned from politics.

Seng Theary said the trial hearing was an attempt to quell any remaining dissent in the country and to “destroy democracy.”

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin said all 140 defendants are required to attend the trials in person starting Thursday. He dismissed accusations from Seng Theary that it was procedurally irregular for her to have only 20 days to prepare for the trial.

“This is her point of view, but it is important that they show up at the court on the day [of trial] and show the truth,” Y Rin told VOA Khmer. “Whatever they say, let them tell the judges during the trial sessions.” [...]

Seng Theary said she is expecting the worst and has prepared for the possibility of a conviction and prison sentence.

“I actually prepared myself for prison. After I received the warrant, I cut my hair short, really short, to combat lice while living in prison just in case they do not have enough shampoo for me,” she said.

(R) Interviews with press before heading into court. (L) Thank you so much to the extremely brave ladies who sheltered me with their own hats and kramas during interviews after court hearing. សូម ថ្លែងអំណរគុណ យ៉ាងជ្រាលជ្រៅ ចំពោះ នារីក្លាហានបំផុត ដែលបានផ្តល់ ទីជំរក ឱ្យខ្ញុំ ជាមួយមួក និងក្រមា របស់ ពួកគាត់។

One set of the 3 sets of court documents given me states that I "fled justice"  on 6 November 2019!

Liar, liar,
Pants on fire!

I left for a human rights conference hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tromso late 2 November and arrived back into Cambodia on 9 November 2019, publicly documenting every step of my way to and fro.

I first time I heard about the summons to appear in court for treason and incitement was Friday, 6 November 2020 (one year later) when the Kirirom police called a relative to inform me of the "warrant" issued for me, initially mistakenly believed by my relative to be an "arrest warrant". The summons was delivered the next day, Saturday, 7 Nov. 2020, filled with procedural errors, both great and small, enough to have the laughable bogus charges dismissed prima facie.

បច្ចុប្បន្នភាព, យប់ ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍, ៣ ធ្នូ ២០២០ | Thursday night, 3 Dec. 2020

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