Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:47 pm

Duncan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 09, 2017 5:26 pm But the silly thing is they/someone is making her into a mytar , Wont be long before there is a book then a movie and after that a Nighthood or something in politics.
Look at the lady in Burma

Try telling that to the powers that be. If they had fined Tep Vanny and released her then she wouldn't have the profile she has now.
Nothing quite like taking a bazooka to an ants nest to stir things up.

I propose Angelina Jolie for the starring role in 'First they Stole my Lake'.

Hang on ,,,, I have only been away for 4 days, and someone has already stolen the Tonle Sap lake ?

I have followed her "career"since she first gained attention in 2008 and find her highly suspect.
On two occasions, I witnessed her in action at demonstrations. While protesting the rejected appeal of a fellow activist outside the Appeals Court, she and her cohorts gave an impressive impersonation of howling banshees. They were not using young children as human shields, as they did at other rallies. On the other occasion, her group was yelling at and threatening another group of Boueng Kak activists, while blocking Monivong Blvd. outside City Hall. The motive for the confrontation was pure greed. One group was dissatisfied that displaced squatters were compensated with equal plots of land and were demanding that, as their original illegal squats were larger than others, they should receive proportionally larger blocks. In both cases, their controllers, white human rights NGOs, were prominently positioned at the back of the rallies-standard practice here.
The banks of the former lake were always designated state land. From the 80s onward, they were illegally occupied by squatters, who, in the words of one of them, bought and sold them like sacks of rice. Long term residents will recall that the main economic activity was prostitution, specialising in underage girls.
When the land was turned over to developers in 2008, they were encouraged by the NGOs to portray themselves innocent victims of a greedy kleptocracy. Due to the furor created, the govt. decided to compensate them with uniform sized blocks of land on site, adapting the rule that occupants of non-state land for 5 years or more were entitled to claim ownership. Interestingly, Tep Vanny was given a block, though she wasn't eligible. She moved to the area in 2004, so had not lived there for 5 years.
That should have been the end of the issue, but the NGOs seized the opportunity for further agitation. Apart from squabbling with each other about the size of the blocks, Vanny and her cohorts took up the cudgels on behalf of a small group of families, who were also claiming compensation, despite having no evidence of long term residency. Some were undoubtedly professional squatters, who move into an area when a land dispute arises, seeking personal benefit.
By then, Vanny had received considerable international attention and was encouraged by her controllers to become a professional activist, involving herself in other other land rights protests. She is now languishing in Prey Sar prison as a result, but her reputation as a martyr continues to grow.
I don't know her personally, but I sometimes sense she may be a victim of manipulation. She speaks very little English, but the banners and T-shirts worn by her and her group at demonstrations suggest a remarkable knowledge of subtleties, irony and cultural nuances that seems amazing for non-native English speakers. Reminds me of the ethnic native forest people from Preah Vihear, who protested in Phnom Penh dressed as characters from the movie Avatar. Ever get the feeling you're being used?

Amnesty brands Cambodia justice system as 'compromised' after Tep Vanny verdict is upheld.

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas ... ict-upheld

Cambodia’s Supreme Court has exposed, once again, the country’s compromised criminal injustice system.

They hit the nail on the head with that one.


11 Dec 2017, 02:44pm

Responding to the Cambodian Supreme Court’s decision which upheld the guilty verdict against Tep Vanny and fellow activists Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha, on charges relating to a peaceful protest they attended in 2011, James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said:

“By upholding these unfounded convictions that stem from dormant charges, Cambodia’s Supreme Court has exposed, once again, the country’s compromised criminal injustice system.

“Tep Vanny, Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha have been found guilty by a judiciary that’s clearly in thrall to the Cambodian government’s repressive policies. These are nothing but politically motivated charges aimed at silencing voices who have dared to speak out.

“All these women did was exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. We urge both the prosecutor to refrain from enforcing the prison sentence and call on the Cambodian authorities to ensure Tep Vanny’s immediate and unconditional release from prison where she is serving an unrelated politically motivated prison sentence.”

Tep Vanny, Kong Chantha and Bo Chhorvy were arrested in 2011 for participating in a land protest outside the Phnom Penh Municipality. The case had laid dormant since 2012.

On 19 September 2017, all three women HRDs were convicted of “obstruction of a public official with aggravating circumstances” and “insult”, under Articles 502 and 504 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, and sentenced to six-month’s imprisonment.

On 23 February 2017, the Court of Appeal had upheld their conviction. During a preliminary hearing by the Supreme Court on 24 November 2017, neither the plaintiffs nor their lawyers or witnesses were present in the courtroom, denying the appellants’ their rights to cross-examination.

Tep Vanny is currently serving also a prison sentence of 30 months in relation to another conviction, stemming from charges that arose out of her participation in a peaceful protest in 2013. She is currently detained at Correctional Centre 2 (CC2) in Phnom Penh.

PHNOM PENH
- The Supreme Court has officially confirmed that Tep Vanny, 35, was charged with "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances" committed at the East Independence Monument, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, March 13, 2013.


The Phnom Penh Municipal Court and the Court of Appeal have sentenced Tep Vanny to two years and six months in prison for "deliberate violence with aggravating circumstances" Under Article 218 of the Penal Code.

Activist Tep Vanny makes new bid for release from Cambodia prison
23 April 2018
Boeung Kak land activist Tep Vanny is making another bid for release in a case that sent her to prison over a 2013 protest outside the home of Prime Minister HE.

Vanny's sister, Huot Chansovann, filed a petition on Monday to HE's cabinet and the Ministry of Justice seeking a royal pardon or a reduction of her 30-month sentence.

Officials agreed to accept the petition and promised to take it to the prime minister.

Speaking to reporters in front of the cabinet after submitting the petition, Chansovann said that she had filed the request on occasion of the Buddhist celebration Visak Bochea, this year on April 29, which traditionally sees a number of pardons for prisoners.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... dia-prison

Cambodia: Civil Society Groups Call for the Release of Tep Vanny
August 15, 2018 12:00AM EDT
Joint Statement on the Second Anniversary of Land Rights Activist’s Imprisonment
(Phnom Penh) – Land activist and human rights defender Tep Vanny has been unjustly detained for two years as of today, for defending the rights of the Boeung Kak Lake community and her fellow Cambodians. We, the undersigned civil society organizations and communities, condemn her ongoing imprisonment and call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Tep Vanny, drop all dormant criminal charges and overturn any convictions against her, so that she may return to her family and community.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/15/cam ... -tep-vanny

And how is the development going at the lake? Any buildings yet?

BREAKING NEWS 20 August 2018
King pardons four Boeng Kak land activists
Ms. Tep Vanny has been released from jail tonight. Fresh News

King Norodom Sihamoni today granted pardon to four Boeng Kak land activists who were convicted over inciting violence and obstructing public officials under aggravating circumstances.

According to the royal decree, the King granted the pardon to Tep Vanny who has been jailed for two years for inciting violence at a protest in 2016.

The King also granted pardon to three other Boeng Kak land activists, Heng Mom, Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha who were convicted of obstructing public officials under aggravating circumstances.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50524589/k ... activists/

20 August 2018
Tep Vanny's return home Monday night was broadcast live on a colleague's Facebook page, showing her friends cheering her freedom and shouting that she was a hero.

She received blessings from a Buddhist monk and thanked her guests for their support.

No reason was specified for the pardons, but they came just days after a sweeping election victory by HE's ruling Cambodian People's Party was officially certified. The polls were heavily criticized as unfair because the only credible opposition party was dissolved by court order last year on a complaint by HE's government.
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/na ... 09890.html