Three Cambodian environmental activists have been charged with plotting against the government and insulting the king, following their documenting waste run-off into Phnom Penh’s Tonlé Sap River.
According to the BBC, Cambodia’s law against insulting the king is relatively new and it is not clear how the activists have fallen foul of the law. Critics have warned that the law – introduced in 2018 – is being used as a tool to silence dissent.
The three activists, Sun Ratha, 26, Ly Chandaravuth, 22, and Yim Leanghy, 32, are members of the Mother Nature group.
Reuters reported that the prosecution said that ‘the evidence collected by the police was an insult to the king’, though without explaining how the law had been violated.
Reuters quoted Naly Pilorge, director of the rights group Licadho, as saying: ‘The Cambodian government has relentlessly targeted Mother Nature Cambodia. This marks an escalation with the outrageous charges of “plotting”.’
The BBC notes that Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy, with almost all power in the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen who has run the country for decades.
The authoritarian government is known for cracking down harshly on criticism and dissent.
[Image: allPhoto Bangkok from Pixabay]