Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

Post by Anchor Moy »

There is a photo exhibition to mark the one year in jail..."I am the Five"

Image
‘I Am the Five’ Photograph Exhibition Honors Jailed Activists
Each photograph makes a statement, showing personal solidarity with the Adhoc 5. There are 365 in all: one photo for each day the activists have spent in jail.
The unique work was created by Miguel Jeronimo, a freelance photographer based in Phnom Penh who closely followed the case of the jailed rights workers and an election official, and wanted to mark the anniversary...
http://asia-info.co/forums/cambodia-new ... vists.html

It doesn't say where the exhibition is though - anyone know where they are being shown ?
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Koh Kong police have been busy removing Adhoc 5 banners this week. Part of a national clean-up before the elections ?

Police remove ‘Adhoc 5’ banners, claiming message was anti-government
Wed, 3 May 2017
Banners at the offices of three prominent NGOs calling for the release of the “Adhoc 5” were forcibly removed yesterday by district and commune police in Koh Kong province’s Smach Meanchey commune, an action that even a local police chief acknowledged didn’t “refer to any article of the law”.
Adhoc Provincial Coordinator Nheab Sam Oeun said that the banners, which had been hanging at the office for three months, had never drawn any attention until yesterday...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/p ... government

More ‘Adhoc 5’ banners taken down by officials
Fri, 5 May 2017
Image
A day after Koh Kong police’s contentious removal of banners calling for the release of the “Adhoc 5”, Sre Ambel district officers tore down three more banners hung at villagers’ homes, claiming the display “affects peace and security”, with a Ministry of Interior official suggesting still more signs would be destroyed across the country.

District Police Chief Toun Sela said yesterday that he had ordered the commune police to remove the banners in his district, an action he said was not an infringement on private property.
“[The villagers] cannot place those banners recklessly everywhere . . . The banners affect peace and security. I don’t think it violates private property. They hung them in front of their house, and when we went there we called them and gave them an explanation,” he said.

When asked for the reason for removing the banners, he replied: “The arrest [of the Adhoc 5] did not happen here. If they want to hang the banners, they should hang them in Phnom Penh, not here.”...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/m ... -officials
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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Court Rejects Latest ‘Adhoc 5’ Request for Bail
8 June 2017
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court rejected election official Ny Chakrya’s fourth request for bail on Tuesday, arguing that after holding him in detention for more than a year it still needed more time to investigate.
The latest rejection letter, signed by Investigating Judge Theam Chan Piseth, says the court needs more time to investigate the allegations and cannot afford to take the risk that, if freed, Mr. Chakrya might pressure witnesses or collude with the other defendants—who are also all behind bars—to coordinate their accounts of events.

In his request for bail, Mr. Chakrya also asked that the court consider dropping the charge against him or start his trial soon.
The rejection letter addresses neither.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cour ... il-131113/
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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Adhoc 5’ investigations close with warning over impartiality
23 June 2017
Court investigations into the “Adhoc 5” who were jailed more than a year ago over opposition leader Kem Sokha’s alleged extramarital affair finally closed this week, with a jurist saying their continued detention without trial would only “erode the little faith the public has” has in the judiciary’s neutrality.

Adhoc staffers Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan and Nay Vanda, and elections official Ny Chakya have been in prison since April 2016 over CNRP President Kem Sokha’s alleged affair. Four were charged with “bribing” his alleged mistress to deny the affair, while Chakrya charged as an accomplice.

Lor Chunthy, a lawyer for the Adhoc officials, said he was informed the investigation into their case closed on Tuesday and that a closing order was due in two weeks to either drop the charges or initiate a trial. “If the case is sent to a trial, [the court] needs up to four months to set a date,” he said.

The pretrial detention of the “Adhoc 5” began in April 2016 and was first extended by six months in October, and then again this April, with Investigating Judge Theam Chanpiseth saying he needed time to question more witnesses.
When Judge Chanpiseth had suggested closing the investigation in January, Court Prosecutor Kuch Kimlong rejected the idea saying that investigations were still incomplete...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/a ... partiality
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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BREAKING: Adhoc 5 released from pre-trial detention
29 June 2017
Five current and former employees of human rights group Adhoc were released under court supervision from pre-trial detention tonight, a spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal court has confirmed, after languishing in pre-trial detention for 427 days.

“The court put them under supervision and placed three conditions — they cannot change their residence without permission from the court and cannot leave the country without the court permission and must answer to the summons,” Rin said.

Rin offered no further explanation for the release of the prisoners, whose arrest is widely viewed as politically motivated, saying “this is the judge’s decision”.Image
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/b ... -detention
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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30 June 2017. The US Embassy in Phnom Penh welcomes the court's decision to release the defendants on bail.
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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Adhoc 5 deny charges during bribery trial
September 19, 2018
Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday tried four human rights defenders and a National Election Committee official charged with bribing a witness linked to an alleged affair committed by former opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Adhoc staffers Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Lim Mony and National Election Committee official Ny Chakrya were accused of bribing Khom Chandaraty in relation to an affair with Mr Sokha.

The Adhoc five were arrested in 2016 after they were questioned by the Anti-Corruption Unit over allegations that they instructed and bribed Ms Chandaraty to deny allegations of an affair with Mr Sokha.

They were then released on bail under court supervision after being in pre-trial detention for more than one year.

During the trial yesterday, all five denied the charges, noting that there were no witnesses to support the claim.

Mr Sokha, head of investigations with rights group Adhoc, denied paying a bribe of $204 to Ms Chandaraty to have her deny the affair.

“Adhoc provides assistance to victims to help them find real justice,” he said. “We help poor people accused of crimes who do not have the ability to fight on their own.”
Mr Sokha said Ms Chandaraty was summoned by the Interior Ministry over the affair as a suspect and came to Adhoc seeking help, which was provided as it would be to any other victim.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50534282/a ... ery-trial/
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

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Adhoc 5 given five year suspended sentences
26 September 2018
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has given five-year suspended sentences to four human rights defenders and a National Election Committee official after they were found guilty of bribing a witness linked to an alleged affair committed by former opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Presiding judge Duch Sok Sarin announced the verdict today that Adhoc staffers Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Lim Mony and National Election Committee official Ny Chakrya were found guilty of bribing a witness Khom Chandaraty to deny her affairs with Mr Sokha.

“The court has decided to sentence staffers Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Lim Mony and Ny Chakrya to five years in prison each,” Judge Sok Sarin said.

“The jail term begins on the day of the arrest until they were released on bail and rest of the sentences are suspended,” he said.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50536795/a ... sentences/
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

UPDATE on a political court case that goes back to 2016
Adhoc 5 Appeal Convictions, Ask for Kem Sokha’s Lover to Appear
1 min read
Khan Leakhena
| Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:06 pm

Human rights officials who were convicted of bribing the alleged lover of an opposition leader brought their case to the Appeal Court on Thursday, calling for the woman, who filed the complaint against them, to testify.

In 2016, then-CNRP vice president Kem Sokha was accused of having an affair with hairdresser Khom Chandaraty, also known as Srey Mom, and was charged with procuring prostitution.

Four officials from rights group Adhoc — Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Lim Mony and Nay Vanda — and a former Adhoc and National Election Committee staffer Ny Chakriya were charged and later convicted for bribery after financially assisting Chandaraty.

Courts found the rights officials gave $200 to Chandaraty and sentenced them to five years in prison, though the term was suspended to time already served.

Thursday’s hearing debated the absence of Chandaraty, as the defense requested a delay until she could be present, pointing out that she had not appeared in the lower court trial either.

However, presiding judge Sin Visal said the case had dragged on too long already, and the court already had Chandaraty’s testimony.

The judge asked the defendants why they were appealing, and the four Adhoc staffers said they objected to their convictions even though they had not committed a crime.

Chakriya was not present, with this lawyer saying he was in the provinces on a job.

After a full afternoon of the hearing, three of the defendants gave their final requests, again asking the court to summon Chandaraty for questioning and to drop their convictions.

A decision is scheduled for May 23.
https://vodenglish.news/adhoc-5-appeal- ... to-appear/
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Re: Amnesty International Campaign: Free the Adhoc Five !

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Confused ? Here is a summary of the origins of the "Adhoc 5" case from Human Rights Watch, 2016 :

Background
The case of the ADHOC five arose after ADHOC provided human rights advice and assistance to Khom Chandaraty, widely known as Srey Mom. She and her family approached ADHOC for help on March 9, 2016, after she was “invited” for questioning by the Counterterrorism Directorate of the government’s Central Directorate for Security, which is headed by Lt. Gen. Dy Vichea, a member of the CPP Central Committee and HE’s son-in-law. The summons did not concern any alleged terrorist activity but asked Srey Mom to provide clarifications about a purported surreptitiously-made recording of a conversation between her and Kem Sokha, acting leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. The recording supposedly demonstrated that she and Kem Sokha were involved in an extramarital affair.
On March 11, when questioned by counterterrorism officers, she denied all allegations. On March 18, she received a second summons, this time from the Phnom Penh court prosecution, to reply to the accusation she had lied to the counterterrorism unit and allegations that her relationship with Kem Sokha was one of prostitution.

Srey Mom continued to seek assistance from ADHOC. According to records released by the group, she said that the tapes were faked, that there had been no affair with Kem Sokha, and that she was being intimidated by the authorities and was suffering livelihood difficulties. As it routinely does for those approaching as victims of government abuses, ADHOC provided Srey Mom with a small sum of money for expenses, including to help her attend court, and assigned her a lawyer.
On April 19, when she appeared with her lawyer before the prosecution, she reversed her denial of having an affair with Kem Sokha.
On April 22, she issued an open letter alleging that the four ADHOC staffers and UN employee Son Saly had enticed her to lie to the authorities by sticking to her original story and suggested that she should leave Cambodia.
In full: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/01/cam ... -defenders
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