PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A prominent Cambodian environmentalist was arrested along with five others while investigating illegal logging in a national park, a rights group and a government official said Sunday.
Ouch Leng, who was awarded a 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for his activism, was arrested Saturday in northeastern Stung Treng province, the rights group Licadho said in a statement.
The activists have documented an increase in illegal deforestation within the Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park, located near an economic land concession, it said.
The arrests come during a broader crackdown on environmental activists in recent months. In July, 10 members of a Cambodian environmental group, Mother Nature Cambodia, who campaigned against destructive infrastructure projects and alleged corruption were each sentenced to six years in prison on charges of conspiring against the state.
Stung Treng provincial spokesman Men Khung confirmed Sunday by telephone that the six were arrested after they ignored instructions from authorities to leave the forestry area where no access is allowed. He said authorities were strictly guarding the site against illegal logging and land grabbing.
Men Khung said several dozen armed personnel have been sent to the site to chase away illegal loggers and land grabbers and to ensure that no outsiders enter. He said that the six were not environmental activists but attempted to sow anarchy and provoke the authorities.
He said that no charges had been filed against the six as of Sunday.
According to Licadho, the government granted an economic land concession in the area in 2022, even though it contravened a 2012 moratorium on new concessions, which have been linked to mass evictions, rapid deforestation and extraction of resources.
Cambodia’s government has long been accused of using its judiciary to persecute critics and political opponents. Prime Minister Hun Manet succeeded his father, Hun Sen, in August last year after he ruled the country for nearly four decades, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.
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