NGO Lists ‘Political Prisoners’

[geovalin]

Khmer Times/Jonathan Cox

The number of political prisoners in Cambodia’s jails has jumped from 0 to 29 since last May, according to a report released yesterday by human rights group Licadho. However, the government has contested this report, saying the detainees listed by Licadho were imprisoned for criminal activity, not because of their political views.

According to Licadho director Naly Pilorge, this is the largest number of political prisoners Cambodia has seen in the last decade. “Since Licadho began recording such data [before 2006], it is unprecedented for Licadho’s list of political detainees to reach 29,” she said. Since May 2015, political dissidents have been charged with crimes ranging from drug possession and making death threats to forgery. Ms. Pilorge said the variety of charges conceals the fact that they were all arrested for their political views.

“Whether the charges were directly political or otherwise, such charges are politically motivated and unlikely to have been brought were it not for the individuals’ politics,” she said. Licadho’s list of political prisoners includes Hong Sok Hour, an opposition politician arrested last August for posting a forged picture of a land treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam on Facebook, and the deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee (NEC) Ny Chakrya, who has been detained since April awaiting a trial on bribery charges.

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25077/ngo-lists----political-prisoners---/

[Emster23]

How do those numbers stack up compared to here?

[greenchair]

How do those numbers stack up compared to here?

I think here there might be hundreds since last may.