A Cambodian domestic worker who was deported by Malaysian authorities in September is seriously ill and has been suffering from seizures at a Phnom Penh prison, relatives told Radio Free Asia.
Nuon Toeun, 36, was an opposition party supporter who often used social media to criticize Cambodia’s leadership. She’s now facing incitement charges and is awaiting trial at Phnom Penh Prison’s M2 facility for women.
Her aunt, Chheng Thol, told RFA on Friday that she went to the prison after a fellow inmate called on Thursday to say that Nuon Toeun had diarrhea, had fainted and was vomiting.
Her condition on Friday improved after a doctor gave her medicine, Chheng Thol said.
Before she was deported and arrested, Nuon Toeun never had any serious illnesses, she said. The prison’s poor food is likely the biggest reason for her declining health, she added.
“Her face is dry. Her face is dark,” she said. “Since she has been in jail, she has been sick all the time, almost every month.”
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons, Kheang Sonadin, told RFA that Nuon Toeun wasn’t seriously ill. However, if her condition worsens, prison officials will ask for permission to move her to a hospital.
Kheang Sonadin also warned that action would be taken against anyone spreading false news about Nuon Toeun’s health.
“What is the intention behind this attempt to spread false information, including the publication of this information to the public, which affects the rights of individuals? If this information is published publicly, there must be accountability for this,” he said.
‘Expressing rage’
Days before her arrest, Nuon Toeun posted a video to Facebook in response to a comment that she should “be mindful of being the subject of sin.”
That was in reference to her talking negatively about Hun Sen, who served as prime minister from 1985 until last year before passing the role to his son, Hun Manet, and taking a new role as president of the Senate.
“If I have sinned because I [have cursed] this despicable guy, I am happy to accept the sin because he has mistreated my people so badly,” Nuon Toeun said in the video.
“I am not a politician, but I am a political observer and expressing rage on behalf of the people living inside Cambodia,” she said.
The 36-year-old was a domestic worker in Malaysia for six years. She was arrested on Sept. 28 at her employer’s home in the state of Selangor, which surrounds Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.
She was escorted to Cambodia by an embassy official and handed over to Cambodian authorities on Sept. 30. Photos of her in handcuffs standing in front of a prison were soon distributed.
Her deportation, arrest and public shaming drew condemnation from observers and human rights advocates who slammed the Malaysian government for its complicity in Cambodia’s “transnational repression.”
Yin Mengly, a spokesperson for human rights group Adhoc, urged prison officials to allow prisoners with serious illnesses to seek treatment outside prison in a timely manner.
“This is a humanitarian issue,” he said. “No matter what crime they are convicted of. It is important that they are still human beings. Therefore, they should be treated like others.”
Yin Mengly said Adhoc lawyers plan to visit Nuon Toeun in prison next week to review her health status and to determine if they should apply to the court to release her on bail.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.