Boeng Kak Granny Denies Making Threat

Nget Khun, a prominent land rights activist better known as “Mummy,” was summoned to court on Thursday over a complaint filed by a neighbor accusing her of making death threats, despite the complainant saying she had already dropped the grievance.

Ms. Khun, 77, was questioned in the morning by Investigating Judge Im Vannak over a complaint filed in 2012 by Ly Mom, 52, a former leader of Boeng Kak activists who has stepped away from protests in recent years.

Nget Khun speaks to reporters outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily)
Nget Khun speaks to reporters outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily)

The judge “asked me why I threatened to kill her,” she said, adding that she had made no such threat during an argument over Ms. Mom telling a television reporter that all Boeng Kak families had settled their disputes.

“We only yelled at each other from in front of the house and I did not threaten to kill her,” Ms. Khun said.

Ms. Mom said she stood by the claims in her complaint against Ms. Khun and four other Boeng Kak activists—Tep Vanny, Tol Sreypov, Bov Sophea and Heng Mom. But she said she had decided to drop the complaint a few days ago.

“They threw leaflets in my house and wrote insults about me and threatened to kill me,” Ms. Mom said by telephone, adding that she had lost interest in pursuing the case.

“I forgot about it. They are neighbors, so I don’t want to waste time with the court. The court should have summoned them long ago, not now,” she added.

Mr. Vannak could not be reached to explain why the court was just now calling the activists for questioning over the four-year-old complaint.

Boeng Kak activists, long a thorn in the side of the municipal government, have been among the targets of a barrage of legal cases pursued by the courts against government critics in recent months.

Other years-old complaints filed by officials against the activists have been dragged up in recent months, with the court offering scant explanation for the lengthy delays.

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