Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Ten activists nabbed near CNRP HQ

Ten activists nabbed near CNRP HQ

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Ten people were arrested on Tuesday for supporting CNRP ‘acting president’ Sam Rainsy near the Supreme Court-dissolved party’s headquarters in Phnom Penh. Koh Santepheap

Ten activists nabbed near CNRP HQ

Ten coup plotters were arrested on Tuesday in the capital’s Chak Angre Leu commune for supporting “acting president” Sam Rainsy, within the area of the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party’s (CNRP) headquarters.

Rainsy, who lives abroad, has consistently called on Cambodians and the armed forces to stage a coup after he announced his “planned return” to Cambodia on November 9.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Sar Thet said on Wednesday that the police detained 10 security guards from CNRP headquarters and seized documents related to the plot to topple the government.

The 10 arrested are Tim Siev, Tim Someth, Thorn Bunthoeu, Ouk Chanda, Srong, Chuon Sophal, Hok Sam Ang, Nok Oun, Sey Dara and So Dara.

“After questioning, the police will send the 10 coup plotters [the security guards] involved in Rainsy’s plot to topple the government to court on Thursday,” he said.

Thet claimed that the 10 arrested individuals hatched the plot (to receive Rainsy) as stated in related documents seized by the police.

“They mobilised people to wait and receive orders. This is a mistake. He [Rainsy] is not coming to protest or join a democratic election.

“He was charged [in absentia] by the courts. There is enough evidence when you hatch the plot to receive [Rainsy]. You [the arrested] conspire to betray the will of the people,” said Thet.

Arrests were also made elsewhere in relation to Rainsy’s coup plot.

Tuol Kork district police in Phnom Penh detained a man only known as Vichet, 44, on Tuesday, while district police in Sen Sok and Por Sen Chey detained Srey Chandara, 60, and Heng Chan Sothy (age unknown) on Wednesday for mobilising support on behalf of the outlawed CNRP.

Last Friday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court Investigating Judge Koy Sao had issued the arrest warrant for Chandara who was charged with “plotting and incitement to cause chaos to social security” in Cambodia and other places.

The Embassy of Cambodia in Jakarta also issued a press release on Wednesday about Rainsy’s plot, saying Malaysian authorities had detained two Cambodian CNRP supporters who were trying to board a plane to Bangkok.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak welcomed the arrests made by the Malaysian authorities, but he said the detainees had not yet been handed over to Cambodia.

A Reuters report claimed one of the two Cambodians is an asylum seeker. They were detained on Monday night and were to be deported to their home country the following afternoon.

However, the Malaysian Home Ministry and Immigration Department withdrew the deportation order after an appeal, according to Jerald Joseph of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.

Former CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanroth considered the arrest of Rainsy’s “supporters” as a violation of human rights.

“Such arrests scare citizens and will affect Cambodia,” he claimed.

He further claimed that the arrests had worsened the political situation in the Kingdom.

But, Sopheak defended the arrests made by the authorities. He stressed that the arrests were “only an act of law enforcement [against coup plotters] and not a violation of the rights and freedom of the people”.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while