Trial delayed of famed Cambodian monk

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH

The trial of one of Cambodia’s leading human rights supporters failed to go ahead Tuesday, after the court ruled that the defendant - a famous Buddhist monk - had been mistakenly summoned.

Luon Sovath - a common fixture at protests and known as the “multimedia monk” for capturing rallies and rights abuses on his video camera - had been called to the Phnom Penh court on charges of incitement related to a case from 2012.

A joint statement by 16 rights groups said Monday that Sovath was also being charged "with two other cases from incidents in 2013 that bear no known relation to him." 

Local rights group Licadho said Wednesday that the prosecutor had admitted there had been an error in summoning the monk to the court Tuesday, also noting that the two cases should have been split “in accordance with a previous court order.”

“The President of the Judges’ Panel then stated that a separate case file for Venerable Sovath had, unbeknownst to all the parties involved, actually been issued over two years ago on November 5, 2012,” it said in a website post.

“Additionally, the newly announced case file includes a warrant from the Prosecutor to the Investigating Judge issued on July 22, 2014 regarding Venerable Sovath. However, the status of the case file and the nature of the charges against Venerable Sovath remain unclear as the defense lawyers have not yet been granted access to the new case file.”

Also named as a defendant is Sourn Serey Ratha - the exiled leader of a dissident group that the government considers a terrorist organization - who Sovath has constantly proclaimed he has never worked with, his activism totally peaceful and independent.

Sovath told The Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that he felt support from local and international NGOs had helped put pressure on the court to stay the proceedings against him.

“I feel, because of the intervention from the national NGOs, international NGOs and embassies, the monks and solidarity from community members together to support justice for me— that put pressure on the court and government about my case,” he said.

“The process will continue, but I don’t know…what the court accuses me of,” he added. “Maybe the court is just dreaming up a way to keep charging me.”

Sok Sam Oeun, the executive director of the Cambodian Defenders’ Project, said the mix-up wouldn’t necessarily impact Sovath’s fair trial rights, because he still has time to prepare a defence if his trial does indeed proceed in the future.

“If they tried it all together with Sourn Serey Ratha, it would be bad for Luon Sovath himself,” he said.

Asked if he felt the monk’s chances are better to be tried on his own, Oeun told AA: “I think so. If Luon Sovath and Sourn Serey Ratha were tried together, the government would look very bad.”

www.aa.com.tr/en