HRF submits case of Cambodian activist Koet Saray to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

NEW YORK (April 24, 2025) — Earlier this month, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted the case of Cambodian environmental and human rights activist Koet Saray to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD). 

Koet is an activist and president of the now-shuttered Khmer Student Intelligence League Association (KSILA), a group dedicated to mobilizing students and community members to promote democracy, human rights, development, and the protection of the environment and natural resources.  

In March 2024, Koet met with a group of villagers from Preah Vihear Province who had been driven from their homes to accommodate a new rubber plantation as part of a deal between the regime and Phnom Penh-based company, Selia Damex Co., Ltd. Koet posted photos of his meeting with community members on the KSILA Facebook page and spoke about their plight to media outlets, including Radio Free Asia. Fifteen days later, on April 5, 2024, he was arrested by 10 plainclothes officers and taken in for questioning on charges of “incitement.” 

“Koet’s arrest was a direct result of his work to promote the interests of displaced communities through the exercise of his fundamental rights to the freedom of expression and opinion and the freedom of assembly,” Kaitie Holland, an international legal associate at HRF, said. “It is not a crime to post on Facebook or speak to the media about pressing issues. To frame these activities as ‘incitement’ is a gross abuse of the legal system to target activists the regime dislikes.” 

Koet was placed under pretrial detention by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and transferred to Prey Sar Prison, where he is still detained today. After six months in pretrial detention, Koet’s trial was held on Oct. 9, 2024. On Nov. 6, 2024, he was sentenced to four years in prison under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, which criminalize incitement to commit crimes, and Article 88, which subjects repeat offenders to longer sentences. 

This is not the first time Cambodia has targeted Koet using incitement laws under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. In 2020, he was convicted under these provisions for organizing protests calling for the release of detained union leader Rong Chhun and received a 20-month sentence. Now, the regime has again targeted Koet, using the same legal tools, this time subjecting him to a longer sentence, justified by his prior bogus conviction. 

“The repetitive use of Articles 494 and 495 to target activists like Koet on trumped-up ‘incitement’ charges is a disturbing pattern that reveals the regime’s fundamental lack of respect for human rights,” Holland said. “In fact, the UNWGAD has already determined that these very articles are vague and overbroad in violation of basic legal principles. The Cambodian regime cannot be permitted to continue weaponizing its criminal code to chill activism and target human rights defenders.”