The Interior Ministry is searching for a man who posted a doctored birth certificate to Facebook that lists his birthplace as Takeo province, Vietnam—reasoning that the suspect had “poisoned the environment,” officials said on Thursday.
The birth certificate for Suth Kong was posted to a Facebook page under the same name on Wednesday and shared widely. The document identifies a male born on February 13, 1987, in Taloek village, Phnom Den commune, Kiri Vong district, Takeo province (Vietnam).
“Everyone knows well that Takeo province is in Cambodia,” said Mao Chandara, chief of the Interior Ministry’s identification department.
“We are cooperating with the General Commissariat of the National Police to research this Facebook account.”
Asked why the Interior Ministry was devoting resources to a seemingly innocuous Facebook post, he said: “They intentionally poisoned the environment.”
In a statement, the identification department said the offender would be punished according to the law. General Chandara refused to say which law had been broken.
He did, however, say the subject of the investigation had unlawfully doctored the birth certificate.
“We have checked the original birth certificate [of Suth Kong] and it says this person was born in Takeo province, Kiri Vong district, Phnom Den commune, Cambodia,” he said.
Yuk Sarat, chief of police in Kiri Vong district, said his officers were helping with the investigation to find Mr. Kong, or whoever was behind the post, but declined to share details of the investigation.
At least four Cambodians have been arrested and jailed over Facebook posts in the past four months: Kong Raya, a student, for encouraging a “color revolution;” Phong Seiha, a migrant worker, for threatening to kill border researcher Sok Touch; Hong Sok Hour, an opposition senator, for presenting a fake border treaty; and Tao Savoeun, a restaurant manager, for threatening to bomb a graduation ceremony.
