Funcinpec lawmaker Princess Norodom Vacheara sent a letter to the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday asking to see Mam Sonando, the owner and director of Beehive Radio who was charged with broadcasting false information and inciting violence in connection with last week’s anti-Thai riots.
Mam Sonando, who is currently held in Prey Sar prison awaiting trial, was one of 57 people detained by the government for their alleged role in either starting the riots or looting the various Thai businesses that were destroyed during the Jan 29 rampage.
So far, the government has not allowed any of the accused to visit with family members or human rights groups, local human rights officials have stated.
“Because I want to know about his health I would like to ask for permission…to meet Mr Mam Sonando,” Princess Vacheara wrote in a letter to co-Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Tuesday.
Mam Sonando, who is accused of broadcasting phone calls from listeners on Wednesday night claiming the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok was burned, has stated that he is innocent of all the charges, said Hong Kim Suon, the lawyer representing the radio station owner.
Hong Kim Suon, who visited with Mam Sonando for one hour on Tuesday, said the government still has refused to allow his client to see any family members even though a Ministry of Interior proclamation states that a prisoner can meet with relatives during visiting hours for a minimum of one hour once a week.
On Tuesday, the Human Rights Action Committee—an umbrella organization representing 18 local human rights groups —released a statement demanding that the court release Mam Sonando from custody “because [the arresting officers] had no arrest warrant.”
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the government is continuing its investigation of all the detainees and cannot allow access until the investigation is complete.
