Breaking: Mother Nature activists found guilty, given suspended sentence

Niem Chheng and James Reddick | Publication date 26 January 2018 | 17:00 ICT

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Dem Kundy and Hun Vannak leaving Koh Kong provincial court on 26 January 2018. Supplied/Licadho

Two activists from the conservation group Mother Nature were found guilty today of “incitement to commit a felony” and making unauthorised recordings of a person “in a private place” by the Koh Kong Provincial Court for their work documenting alleged sand transportation off the coast.

Hun Vannak, 35, and Dem Kundy, 21, were handed a one-year prison sentence, with seven months suspended, and are expected to be released on February 13, according to their lawyer Sam Chamroeun. They have already served nearly four and a half months in prison. They were also each fined 1 million riel (about $250).

The pair was arrested in September after photographing boats they suspected were carrying silica sand off the coast of a special economic zone belonging to ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat. The original complaint against them was filed by the chief of staff of Yong Phat’s LYP Group, Chan Nakry.

Though they were taking photographs from their own boat on the open water about one kilometre from the alleged sand-bearing vessel, Vannak and Kundy were found guilty of making recordings of a person on private property.

In the courtroom yesterday, Nakry’s lawyer, Chun Socheat, argued they had “incited” society by accusing the company of foul play by taking photographs and posting them to Facebook. Though they were documenting the alleged sand transportation in order to then post on social media, they had not done so before they were arrested.

“I cannot accept it, as I said since the beginning, that the arrest, the charge, detention and trial of my clients came as the court had big confusion over the facts and legal basis,” Chamroeun said, adding that he will discuss with the pair whether or not they decide to appeal.

Reached today, Kundy’s mother, Duong Saktheary, said she was pleased at the possibility of her son’s imminent release but disappointed with the verdict.

“I am happy that my son will be released soon. But it is not justice for my son because he did not do anything wrong,” she said.

Despite the suspended sentence, Human Rights Watch’s Phil Robertson decried the court decision, and the time the activists had already spent in prison awaiting trial.

"The months these two men languished in pre-trial detention in horrible conditions at Koh Kong's prison was the real punishment in this case,” he said by email. “From a larger perspective, the real loser in this whole ordeal is rule of law and what's left of the judicial process."