A 35-year-old man from Banteay Meanchey was arrested on Saturday – a day after returning from work in Thailand – and sent to pre-trial detention on Monday for allegedly insulting Prime Minister Hun Sen in a video clip he posted to Facebook in February 2016.
Prit Saroun, 29, said his brother-in-law Mey Voeun, 35, was arrested on Saturday in Pongro village in Sisophon town.
“About five police officials came to arrest him at about 4pm Saturday,” he said.
On Monday, he was sent to court and ordered to be detained on pre-trial detention.
Sit Los, deputy provincial police chief in Banteay Meanchey, confirmed the arrest, but declined to provide details.
Sok Keo Bandith, spokesman at the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court, couldn’t be reached for comment.
In Kongchit, coordinator for the rights group Licadho, said he met on Tuesday with Voeun’s investigating judge, Hok Pov, who confirmed Voeun was charged with public defamation and incitement to commit a felony.
Kongchit said Voeun is accused of insulting Hun Sen in a video he posted on his Facebook page but it has since been deleted.