KNLF Member’s Sentence Upheld

A member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF), referred to as a “terrorist” organization by the government, had his seven-year prison sentence upheld in the Court of Appeals yesterday after a lower court convicted him of forging public documents and being an accomplice to treachery last year. The KNLF, which self-identifies as a political advocacy group opposed to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, made headlines in 2014 when 13 of its alleged members, including president Sam Serey who fled to Denmark, were convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and sentenced to between five and nine years each in prison over allegations of plotting to overthrow the government.

Hin Chan, the 34-year-old who was arrested in the capital after smuggling 260 pro-KNLF pamphlets into the Kingdom from Thailand last year, was charged under articles 453 and 629 of the Penal Code, according to presiding judge Pol Samoeun. The arrest took place in Russey Keo’s Chroy Changvar commune on May 12, 2014, during which time police seized the alleged anti-government literature as well as a fake passport from Mr. Chan.

“The reason why the Appeal Court decided to uphold the decision of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court was that this offense was serious, and the decision made by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court was suitable with the accused’s activity,” Mr. Samoeun said. Mr. Chan said yesterday that he had initially appealed the municipal court’s decision because it was unjust, and would appeal his case to the Supreme Court for that same reason.

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