A former student at the University of South-East Asia in Siem Reap City who was arrested over a Facebook comment in which he threatened to bomb a graduation ceremony presided over by Interior Minister Sar Kheng was charged and jailed Wednesday.
Tao Savoeun, 26, who finished his studies at the school in 2013 and was angered by repeated changes of the date for the ceremony, was charged with making a death threat, said Phoeung Chendareth, chief of the provincial police’s minor crimes bureau.
“He was charged with [making a] death threat under Article 233 [of the criminal code] and sent to prison,” Mr. Chendareth said. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of two years.
Police said Mr. Savoeun has confessed to making the threat and explained that he was angry that the ceremony—which went ahead on Monday without incident—had been called off and then suddenly reinstated, as he had to schedule time off at the hotel where he worked.
In an image circulating online purporting to show the comment, posted by an account with the name “Savoeun Tao,” it reads: “Wait until Samdech [Mr. Kheng] comes, and get together to place a bomb to kill everyone at once.” The comment received two “likes.”
Mr. Savoeun’s 21-year-old sister, Tao Bora, said Wednesday that her brother had acted out of anger and should be forgiven because he was not being serious.
“He asked permission from the hotel a few times to take a day off to get his certificate. So his boss got angry with him and told him that he was zig-zagging,” Ms. Bora said by telephone. “So he got angry and decided to write that he would throw a bomb to kill everyone.
“My brother went too far, but Samdech was also zig-zagging, so we would like Samdech to reduce the punishment for my brother,” she added.
“If he is sentenced, it will destroy his future and our family, because my parents only have one son and they rely on him,” Ms. Bora added. “Our parents raised him and spent a lot of money on his education…. But now he is in prison.
“We beg Samdech to forgive him for this.”
