PHNOM PENH: A court docket in Cambodia on Monday barred three environmental activists who’re serving suspended jail sentences for his or her advocacy work from travelling to Sweden subsequent month to obtain the celebrated Proper Livelihood Award. A replica of a letter from the Phnom Penh Municipal Courtroom’s chief prosecutor, Chreung Khmao, mentioned the journey by the members of the group Mom Nature Cambodia was “not obligatory.”
The letter, seen by The Related Press, got here in response to a journey request from the activists.
Thon Ratha, 31, Phuong Keo Reaksmey, 22, and Lengthy Khunthea, 25, requested for permission to make a November 24-Dec, 1 journey to obtain the award, which is usually characterised because the “Different Nobel.”
Mom Nature Cambodia was co-winner of the award this yr together with Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan group activist, and SOS Mediterranee, a humanitarian group that rescues migrants within the Mediterranean Sea.
The Stockholm-based Proper Livelihood Basis mentioned the winners “stand as much as save lives, protect nature and safeguard the dignity and livelihoods of communities around the globe,” and “battle for folks’s proper to well being, security, a clear setting and democracy.”
It cited Mom Nature Cambodia for its “fearless and interesting activism to protect Cambodia’s pure setting within the context of a extremely restricted democratic house.”
Cambodia’s authorities below long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who stepped down this yr, confirmed little tolerance for challenges to the established order.
In June 2021, the three Cambodian activists have been convicted of incitement to commit a felony for his or her actions in 2017-2020 to guard the nation’s pure sources. They misplaced an enchantment in December.
Their 14-month jail sentences have been suspended however they have been barred from travelling exterior Cambodia for 3 years with out permission from the court docket.
Am Sam Ath, a senior member of the Cambodian human rights organisation Licadho, expressed remorse that the court docket refused to let the activists make the journey.
“They need to have obtained encouragement to go by the court docket and Cambodian authorities due to their work for the sake of the nation and since they’ve set an excellent instance for the youthful Cambodian era,” Am Sam Ath mentioned.
Created in 1980, the annual Proper Livelihood Award honors efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt have been being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. Thus far, 190 laureates from 74 international locations have obtained the award.
The muse behind the prize has mentioned this yr’s winners shall be acknowledged at a November 29 award presentation ceremony in Stockholm.
The letter, seen by The Related Press, got here in response to a journey request from the activists.
Thon Ratha, 31, Phuong Keo Reaksmey, 22, and Lengthy Khunthea, 25, requested for permission to make a November 24-Dec, 1 journey to obtain the award, which is usually characterised because the “Different Nobel.”
Mom Nature Cambodia was co-winner of the award this yr together with Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan group activist, and SOS Mediterranee, a humanitarian group that rescues migrants within the Mediterranean Sea.
The Stockholm-based Proper Livelihood Basis mentioned the winners “stand as much as save lives, protect nature and safeguard the dignity and livelihoods of communities around the globe,” and “battle for folks’s proper to well being, security, a clear setting and democracy.”
It cited Mom Nature Cambodia for its “fearless and interesting activism to protect Cambodia’s pure setting within the context of a extremely restricted democratic house.”
Cambodia’s authorities below long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who stepped down this yr, confirmed little tolerance for challenges to the established order.
In June 2021, the three Cambodian activists have been convicted of incitement to commit a felony for his or her actions in 2017-2020 to guard the nation’s pure sources. They misplaced an enchantment in December.
Their 14-month jail sentences have been suspended however they have been barred from travelling exterior Cambodia for 3 years with out permission from the court docket.
Am Sam Ath, a senior member of the Cambodian human rights organisation Licadho, expressed remorse that the court docket refused to let the activists make the journey.
“They need to have obtained encouragement to go by the court docket and Cambodian authorities due to their work for the sake of the nation and since they’ve set an excellent instance for the youthful Cambodian era,” Am Sam Ath mentioned.
Created in 1980, the annual Proper Livelihood Award honors efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt have been being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. Thus far, 190 laureates from 74 international locations have obtained the award.
The muse behind the prize has mentioned this yr’s winners shall be acknowledged at a November 29 award presentation ceremony in Stockholm.
