Three activists for the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) have been sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court after they were arrested for their alleged involvement in an overseas-organised plot to mobilise demonstrations and cause insecurity.
National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun said the arrests were made separately late last week in the capital and Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces.
“We have arrested people who were part of an overseas plot to mobilise forces to oppose the enforcement of the courts’ arrest warrants for Sam Rainsy.
“There was a plot to carry out demonstrations and cause insecurity, and we arrested three people and sent them to court,” Kim Khoeun told The Post on Sunday.
He declined to provide details of the suspects’ involvement in the alleged plot as the case was in the court’s hands.
“We are not complacent. We have clear evidence. We didn’t just get the information from Facebook and arrest them.
“Now it’s beyond the authority of the National Police and it’s up to the court to review the case,” Kim Khoeun said.
A CNRP statement issued on Saturday claimed that the authorities had arrested six CNRP activists over the past two weeks, and done so without a warrant.
It named the six as Tum Bunthan, You Chantheany, Ly Lin, Ly Meng Kheang, Yat Phearum and Chhun Thai Yuth.
The CNRP condemned the arrests, saying they were a serious violation of national and international law. “The arrest and detention of the CNRP activists is a serious violation of national and international law, as well as the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
“It’s a brutal act worthy of the Khmer Rouge, who used to capture and kill innocent people to suppress and intimidate them. We defend their right to freedom and demand justice,” the CNRP statement said.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin dismissed the statement. He said the arrests were carried out according to legal procedure and did not violate their rights or freedoms.
“This case is not a restriction of rights or freedoms. The authorities found evidence of a crime. So according to standard legal procedures, the suspects were called in for questioning.
“The authorities then established that a crime had been committed and the case was sent to the prosecutor, who initiated procedures to charge them,” Malin said.
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