A man facing defamation charges was questioned in Kandal Provincial Court yesterday following his comments in a report that alleged tycoon Try Pheap was illegally logging.

San Sen was quoted in a Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF) report last month that implicated the tycoon in illegal logging in Kandal.

Sen said he was questioned for almost an hour in court about his comments.

“They asked me many questions, but I said in the report that tycoon Try Pheap’s wealth is owed to his involvement in the timber business, and I always see his cars transporting timber,” he said.

The CHRTF report also said that Pheap’s company, Try Pheap Import Export, had received 70,000 hectares of economic land concessions from the Cambodian government.

Ouch Leng, director of CHRTF, said: “Try Pheap’s companies are annihilating Cambodian forests.”

Pheap and his companies’ representatives could not be reached yesterday.