Updated January 8, 2023, 1:29 p.m. ET
A government critic who was severely beaten by assailants on the streets of Phnom Penh in September was arrested Friday on charges of incitement and defamation after he made a Facebook comment that mocked the Ministry of Commerce.
Ny Nak’s wife, Sok Synet, said police stopped him while he was riding his motorbike, took him to the Ministry of Interior and then to Phnom Penh Municipal Court, where he was formally charged.
Minister of Labor Heng Sour filed a complaint against Ny Nak this week after he posted the comment about a Ministry of Commerce statement that said it aims to register 10,000 new companies this year as it seeks to encourage investment in Cambodia.
“The new 10,000 companies in 2024 must include dried clams companies, begging companies or illegal drug companies,” Ny Nak wrote on Facebook.
He added that the government should disclose how many failed businesses have recently closed.
The agricultural expert was convicted to 18 months in prison and fined 2 million riels (US$485) in late 2019 after he criticized Cambodia’s COVID-19 policy as being too restrictive. He later apologized to then-Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Since his release in early 2023, Ny Nak has been posting comments critical of the government on Facebook under the pseudonym IMAN-KH.
On Sept. 12, he criticized Minister of Agriculture Dith Tina over his handling of a report on rice prices. Hours later, he was beaten unconscious by several helmet-wearing, baton-wielding motorbike drivers.
Photos obtained by RFA showed him in bed with gauze wrapped around his head and balled up inside his ears, his hands bandaged, and his lips severely swollen. He was hospitalized for a week.
Other online comments
No one has been arrested in the attack, which also left Sok Synet with injuries.
Ny Nak has also posted critical comments about a government decision to cede about 100 hectares of land to a man named Heng Sour. His comment didn’t mention the man’s title, and it was unclear if he was referring to the minister of labor.
Heng Sour and Prime Minister Hun Manet have denied that the government has given land to the minister.
Sok Synet told Radio Free Asia that Heng Sour may have filed the criminal complaint over the Ministry of Commerce comment in retaliation for the previous land comment.
“We must assert with the utmost urgency that the Ministry of Commerce has absolutely no involvement or connection to the incident or the individual mentioned,” ministry spokesperson Borapich Serei said in an email to RFA.
The attack on Ny Nak in September was one of dozens that have been carried out on government critics and outspoken activists in Cambodia. Most of the incidents have targeted members of the opposition, who say they are politically motivated.
Am Sam Ath of human rights group Licadho urged the government and court officials to differentiate between freedom of expression and defamation.
RFA couldn’t reach Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor and spokesman Plang Sophal for comment on Friday’s arrest.
Court officials told Sok Synet they will send Ny Nak to Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday, she said.
“He just simply wants justice for himself and others who are the victims,” Sok Synet told RFA. “He wants the government to know that we need justice in a so-called peaceful country. All people need peace and peace shouldn’t be reserved for only one group of people.”
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster .
Updated to add comment from the Ministry of Commerce.