Third violator of lèse majesté law arrested

Niem Chheng | Publication date 18 June 2018 | 08:42 ICT

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Ieng Cholsa stands accused of threatening and insulting the King. Fresh news

A THIRD person has been arrested under the Kingdom’s newly passed lèse majesté law over the weekend for a series of Facebook posts, according to the municipal court prosecutor.

The court official said the suspect faced charges for insulting the King and threatening his life.

“He was charged with insulting the King according to the article which was amended recently, and making a death threat,” Kuch Kimlong, deputy prosecutor of Phnom Penh municipal court told The Post on Sunday.

Anyone insulting the King can be liable to one to five years in jail under Article 437 of the law, while those making death threats can be sentenced to between six months and two-years under Article 233.

The suspect, identified as Ieng Cholsa, was arrested in Boeung Keng Kang II commune in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district on Thursday.

The arrest marked the third time the lèse majesté law has been used after a primary school principal in Kampong Thom province and a barber in Siem Reap province were arrested last month.

Som Sonin, a police officer in the Interior Ministry’s Cybercrime Department, which made the arrest together with provincial police, declined to provide details, saying it had already been submitted to court.

Cholsa’s Facebook account indicated he had made three posts on the night of June 13, all of which insult and threaten the King.

One post showed a 500 riel note with King Norodom Sihamoni’s picture. Another showed a picture of drugs while a third showed a shot of the King and his mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.

Prak Bunnan, deputy Tbong Khmum provincial police chief in charge of criminal offence, claimed on Sunday that despite the suspect having photos taken at the Memoth District Hall, he was just a visitor there.

“The suspect is not a resident of Tbong Khmum province, he is from Svay Rieng,” Bunnan said.

Koy Sopheap, deputy Svay Rieng police chief in charge of criminal offences, said he did not have information as the case was investigated by the Cybercrime Department.