Cambodia must release opposition member detained for “incitement,” regional lawmakers say

JAKARTA – The Cambodian authorities must immediately drop all charges against a member of the opposition who faces up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of 3,480 USD for “public insult” and “incitement” after he posted on Facebook about EU rice tariffs, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.

Kong Mas, a member of the banned opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested last week in the capital, Phnom Penh. On Saturday 19 January, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sent him to pre-trial detention and said police had charged him under the Criminal Code with “public insult” (Article 307) and “incitement to commit felony” (Article 495) – catchall charges often used against anti-government activists in Cambodia, which could carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

“The detention of Kong Mas is yet another act of political repression by the Cambodian government. It is outrageous to think that someone could face years in prison for nothing but a peaceful social media post. Kong Mas must be released immediately and all charges against him dropped,” said Charles Santiago, APHR Chair and a member of the Malaysian parliament.

While the Court offered no reason for the charges, a few hours before his arrest Kong Mas had posted on his Facebook account about the European Union’s (EU) plans to impose rice tariffs on Cambodia.

The Cambodian authorities have tried to muzzle public debate about EU trade politics since October last year, when the EU announced it was starting the process of removing the Everything but Arms (EBA) trade preference, citing Cambodia’s poor human rights record.

On 17 January, just a day after Kong Mas’ arrest, a statement from the Cambodian government warned the public against spreading “fake news” around the EBA agreement.

The human rights situation in Cambodia has deteriorated sharply over the past two years. The CNRP was arbitrarily banned through a Supreme Court decision in November 2017, opening up for a landslide victory by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in the July 2018 general election. The vote was widely dismissed as a sham by the international community.

The CPP relies on a catalogue of repressive laws – including a “fake news” law introduced in 2018 – to harass, charge and jail members of the opposition and human rights activists.

“This arrest clearly shows that the human rights situation inside Cambodia remains dire, and that the world cannot be fooled by any ‘concessions’ offered by Hun Sen since the election. The Cambodian authorities would do better to respond to the serious human rights concerns raised by the EU in the first place, rather than trying to silence debate on the issue,” said Charles Santiago.