Court begins Chakrya queries

[geovalin]

Pech Sotheary and Charles Parkinson

Reporters and supporters of human rights activist Ny Chakrya were barred from entering Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, as he sought to avert charges being laid against him in a case described by advocates as “judicial harassment”.

Chakrya, head of the human rights and legal aid section of local NGO Adhoc, faces potential charges of “public defamation”, “acts of slanderous denunciation”, and “publication of commentaries to put pressure on the judiciary”, brought against him by prosecutors at Siem Reap Provincial Court.

The accusations are based on comments he made during a May 12 press conference in Phnom Penh condemning the arbitrary arrest and detention of Ven Lorn and Beourn Sok, two residents of Chup Romdeng village in Siem Reap province’s Svay Leu district, who are involved in a high-profile land dispute.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/court-begins-chakrya-queries