Court Adds Charges for Rescuer, Sends to Prison for Pretrial Detention
2 min read
Mech Dara
| Thu Mar 3, 2022 5:16 pm
Two further charges were added against a Chinese man who has been working to rescue forced laborers, as the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court sent the man and two others to the provincial prison for pretrial detention.

Accounts of torture, detention and forced labor have emerged from compounds in Sihanoukville and elsewhere linked to prominent businesspeople and politicians, as victims have spoken of being trafficked, held in debt bondage and being bought and sold between online scam operations. Some have spoken of gratitude for Chen Baorong, head of the Cambodia-China Charity Team, for helping them escape or recover.

Preah Sihanouk governor Kuoch Chamroeun, however, has said that one case, in which a victim alleged his blood was harvested after refusing to work, had caused him “headaches” and could hurt friendships.

On Thursday, provincial court spokesman Ly Chandara shared a document showing judges had charged four people including Li Ya Yuan Lun, 31, who had alleged the blood harvesting incident and remains in a Phnom Penh hospital.

Prosecutors earlier suggested provisional charges of incitement to discriminate and false declaration against the accused.

The court document showed that Chen was also charged with unlawful interference in the discharge of public functions and unlawful use of certificate of profession. No details were given into how Chen had allegedly violated the laws.

The unlawful interference charge, which is punishable by one to three years in jail, relates to interfering “in the discharge of a public function by performing an act reserved for the holder of this office.”

Unlawful use of a professional certificate is punishable by one month to one year in jail.

Chen’s assistant, Chen Xiaohua, 41, was also handed the same four charges as an accomplice, while Sihanoukville doctor Tan Xiaomei, 41, was charged as an instigator of incitement and false declaration. Li was charged with incitement and false declaration, as well under Article 29 of the Immigration Law for unlawful entry into the country.

Chandara said the accused were sent to the provincial prison for pretrial detention.

Chen’s charity team comes under the China Commerce in Cambodia Association, whose chairman, Liu Leo, is a ministerial adviser to the National Assembly, according to a bio of him speaking at a conference in Dubai. The association hung up on a reporter when approached for comment this week.
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Despite the fact that just this one case was bogus, the Chinese nationals who are attempting to rescue Chinese victims of criminal gangs have been targeted by Cambodian authorities. They are obliged to operate with greater discretion.

The entire community volunteering to free trafficking victims — from China or elsewhere — has been taken aback by Chen’s arrest. “Everyone is kind of scared now,” Xellos says. “There are worries that if we continue with our rescue work, we may one day get arrested for no reason.”

In the wake of Chen’s arrest, WeChat removed the volunteer team’s public account, which they used to raise awareness and reach out to victims. The Chinese business association in Cambodia, which sponsored the volunteers, has disbanded, according to Lu Xiangri, a 32-year-old man from China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the person who inherited Chen’s role.

Full article on Chinese victims trafficked to work in Cambodia; many of them are minors:
In Cambodia, a Network Rescuing Trafficked Chinese Teens Is Unraveling
Cyber criminals rely on forced labor. A recent scandal spurred authorities to crack down — not just on the gangs, but also on those trying to set their victims free.
Yuan Ye
Jul 12, 2022 9-min read
GUANGXI, Southwest China — In December, Yun was smuggled out of China. A few days prior, a man had contacted the 14-year-old through a video app with an enticing job offer. Yun, a recent school dropout who was estranged from his family and who had been hopping between factory gigs, found the promised salary irresistible.

A handful of friends joined him. By the time the teenagers realized they had been misled, it was too late. Men they had never met took them on a journey that included riding in cars, trekking through mountains, and hiding in a boat. Suddenly, shop signs were in a foreign language.

At their destination, the six, all underage, were sold into a compound in the Cambodian city Sihanoukville. There, they were held captive and made to work scamming people over the internet.
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