29 June 2012
The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) has conducted a thorough investigation into, and has been monitoring, the land conflict in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak Lake area, as well as the arrest, detention and sentencing of 13 Boeung Kak Lake female residents by Cambodian courts.
On 27 June 2012, the Appeals Court upheld the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s ruling by simply reducing the Boeung Kak 13’s sentence from two and a half years to one month and three days in prison. The appeal procedure, presided over by H.E. Seng Sivutha, provided the Boeung Kak 13 with more opportunities to have their voices heard and to present exculpatory evidence than the first instance procedure. However, the process did not offer them full guarantees of fairness since, for instance, the Court did not accede to the request of the defense counsel that municipal authorities be questioned over what happened on 22 May 2012. In addition, the Court found the Boeung Kak 13 guilty on the basis of highly questionable pictures taken during the protest, which allegedly show the accused with construction tools and materials. Their faces are hidden, and there are grounds to assert that the persons featured in the pictures are not the 13 Boeung Kak residents.
According to testimonies of the Boeung Kak 13 and of eyewitnesses present on that day, the women did not commit any unlawful act. On the one hand, they did not attempt to rebuild a house and to measure land boundaries, as alleged by the municipal and judicial authorities. On the other hand, they did not use any violent means against law enforcement officials. They are innocent of all charges leveled against them and should never have been prosecuted in the first place.
Even though they were released by the Appeals Court, they were found guilty. This injustice is nothing other than an attempt to conceal the mistakes made by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ny Chakrya Head of Monitoring Section at ADHOC: 011 274 959
Mr. Chan Soveth, Deputy Head of Monitoring Section: 016 667 373
