Police investigations of alleged Cambodian Freedom Fighters will continue this week, as authorities learn more about the network from alleged rebels already in custody, a prosecuting judge said Sunday.
Prosecuting Judge Yann Yet said he charged one more suspect Saturday with violations of Articles 1 and 2 of state law and Article 36 of the Untac code, bringing to 19 the number of people he has charged with membership in the CFF since Sept 8.
More arrests were imminent as the court expects to issue summons for additional suspects today, the judge said.
The crackdown on the US-based CFF has led to a series of arrests over the past two weeks. Authorities say they prevented a rebel attack on the country that was planned for the Pchum Ben festival.
Some 24 suspects are now in custody facing charges of terrorism, membership in an illegal armed group and organized crime. The arrests have come from several areas, with many in the northwestern provinces.
Por Vannak, military police chief for Battambang province, said military police have arrested seven suspected rebels since Sept 13 near the border with Thailand in Kam Reing district. Some of the suspects were trading along the border, he said.
Bun Seng, RCAF commander of the Fifth Division, said his soldiers cooperated with military police and the provincial policeman and found 11 suspected rebels in Kam Reing, Sampao Loun, Phnom Preik and Koh Kralor districts in Battambang province.
Even as Yann Yet promised more summons this week, Hok Lundy, director general of the National Police, told a wire service Friday the first phase of the crackdown was finished last week.
A trial of alleged CFF members in June led to prison sentences of three years to life without parole for more than two dozen defendants.
Meanwhile, a group of 75 factory workers who were arrested Wednesday outside the Victory Long Age shoe factory in Dangkao district on suspicions of being either smugglers or members of the CFF were released Friday afternoon after questioning, according to Keo Bunrith, deputy police chief of Dangkao district.
