Activists behind the “Black Monday” protests said on Sunday they would demonstrate yet again today despite the threat of more arrests, this time in front of the Appeal Court, where four employees of rights group Adhoc and an election official will have their bail hearing in the morning.
The five were arrested in April and charged with bribing the alleged mistress of CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha as part of the government’s aggressive investigation of the purported relationship for evidence of corruption and prostitution. The charges, as with the entire probe, are widely seen as politically motivated, and black-clad protesters have been demonstrating for their release every Monday since early May.
The protests have centered on Prey Sar prison, where four of the five are being detained, but will move today to the Appeal Court, which will decide on their bail request after the municipal court rejected it.
Demonstrators have been arrested then released at most of the Black Monday protests to date, scaring most supporters away. But Im Srey Touch, one of the organizers, said a core group of protesters were undeterred, and she hoped to bring out 30 to 40 people today.
“We will go to rally in front of the Appeal court to demand the release of the rights group officials on bail and that the charges be dropped,” Ms. Srey Touch said on Sunday.
“We believe they have done nothing wrong,” she said. “If the court decides not to release them, we will not stop protesting.”
The municipal government has said the protests are illegal because the organizers have not requested, let alone received, government permission.
“If they do anything that’s against the law, like disrupt the court proceedings or cause a traffic jam, we will take action,” said City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey on Sunday.
“We need to see how many protesters there will be,” he said. “For example, if there are hundreds of people and they don’t do anything bad, that’s still a lot of people. And then journalists come to take pictures and do interviews, and that can cause a traffic jam. Even if there is no violence, they are responsible.”
Op Vibol, a lawyer for the four Adhoc employees, said there were solid grounds for releasing his clients on bail.
“They have jobs, a residence and they have never committed any crime before because they are rights group officials,” he said. “And they are old and have diseases.”
