JOINT STATEMENT: CSOs welcome the release of Ven Vorn, but condemn his conviction

We call on the Cambodian judiciary to act with genuine independence, and further call upon the Royal Government of Cambodia to refrain from exercising political control over the judiciary in order to harass peaceful activists and human rights defenders.

Phnom Penh, 04 March 2016.  While we, the undersigned civil society organizations (“CSOs”), welcome the decision made yesterday – 03 March 2016 – by the Koh Kong Provincial Court to suspend the sentence of indigenous community leader and environmental activist Mr. Ven Vorn, we strongly condemn the decision of the judges to convict him, despite the charge against him being completely unreasonable, as detailed in a Legal Analysis by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”).

Mr. Ven Vorn was arrested on 07 October 2015, in relation to the use of timber to construct a small community center in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley, intended as a visitor center for tourists and meeting place for community members and local activists. While initially he was charged with both harvesting forest products without a permit (Article 98 of the Law on Forestry) and disturbing evidence (Article 533 of the Criminal Code), the latter charge was dropped during the trial at the request of the prosecution. Article 98 of the Law on Forestry carries a sentence of up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to ten million Riel. Mr. Ven Vorn was found guilty and sentenced to one years-imprisonment; his sentence was, however, suspended. He was released yesterday afternoon from Koh Kong provincial prison, where he had been detained since his arrest.

Mr. Ven Vorn has been repeatedly subject to judicial harassment as a result of his continued activism to protect the lands of the indigenous peoples in the Areng Valley. Given the nature of the charge against him and the excessive length of his pre-trial detention, it is clear that the most recent case against him is another attempt to suppress critical voices. If Mr. Ven Vorn had received a fair and independent trial, he would have been cleared of all charges.

We meet the decision made by the court with mixed emotion – while the release of Mr. Ven Vorn is undoubtedly welcome, he should not have been arrested and convicted in the first place. Convicting activists involved in high profile cases and then releasing them on suspended sentences has become an often-used tactic in Cambodia in order to criminalize legitimate activism and to keep activists under close judicial supervision.

We call on the Cambodian judiciary to act with genuine independence, and further call upon the Royal Government of Cambodia to refrain from exercising political control over the judiciary in order to harass peaceful activists and human rights defenders.

Source : www.adhoc-cambodia.org

Image : www.cchrcambodia.org