The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has summoned activist monk Keo Somaly for questioning over an alleged attack on a fellow monk at the city’s Wat Neakavorn last month.
According to a copy of the summons posted online Tuesday by Keo Somaly, deputy prosecutor Top Chhun Long asked the monk to appear for questioning on December 23 for allegedly punching and kicking Long Chheng Hy on November 13.
Keo Somaly denies the accusation but said Tuesday that he would honor the summons.
“I will appear at the court’s order,” he said. “It is an injustice for me because the authorities are using the courts to intimidate me so that I don’t…work for social justice.”
Keo Somaly is a member of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, an outspoken group of monks who have raised the ire of the government and Buddhist establishment by joining, and sometimes leading, protests over land disputes pitting poor farmers against well-connected firms. Officials at the court could not be reached.
