() – A Cambodian woman working as a maid in Malaysia has been deported to her country for comments she posted on social media criticizing Cambodian government leaders, in the latest example of a Southeast Asian government helping another to stop to a dissident.
A Cambodian prison official and a group of opposition activists said Thursday that Nuon Toeun, 36, who had worked in Malaysia for several years, was detained last week by Malaysian authorities at the request of the Cambodian government.
Human rights groups criticized several Southeast Asian governments for helping each other harass, detain and deport political dissidents in exile. New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the Thai government to stop forcing political dissidents to return to their authoritarian home countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China, where they could face torture, persecution or death.
Freedom House, a US-based democracy promotion organization, says the practice of attacking or sending back exiled dissidents “is becoming a ‘normal’ phenomenon as more governments around the world use it to silence dissidence″.
Nuth Sovana, spokesperson for Cambodia’s prisons department, said Nuon Toeun was detained at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh upon her arrival in Cambodia on Tuesday. She was charged with incitement to commit a serious crime or cause social disorder and incitement to discriminate on the basis of race, religion or nationality. She was unable to provide details of the crimes she was accused of.
If convicted of both charges, she could face up to five years in prison and a fine.
Malaysian police and immigration officials could not immediately be reached for comment on his deportation.
Nuon Toeun is neither an opposition leader nor a well-known activist. However, the Cambodian government recently expressed concern about foreign critics gathering support among expatriate Cambodians.
Nuon Toeun’s arrest came shortly after a Cambodian investigative journalist, Mech Dara, known for exposing online scams and corruption, was charged with incitement to commit a serious crime for material he posted on social media.
Radio Free Asia, a U.S. government-funded news service that reports extensively on Cambodia, said Nuon Toeun often used social media to criticize Cambodian leaders, including Prime Minister Hun Manet and her father Hun Sen, a former prime minister and current president of the Senate, for his management of social affairs.
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party government has long been accused of silencing critics and political opponents.
A few days before her arrest, Nuon Toeun posted a video on Facebook in which she said she was “expressing anger on behalf of the people living inside Cambodia,” Radio Free Asia reported.
“If I have sinned by cursing this despicable guy, I gladly accept the sin because he has mistreated my people a lot,” he said, referring to Hun Sen, Radio Free Asia reported.
The Khmer Movement for Democracy, formed by exiled opposition leaders, condemned Nuon Toeun’s expulsion from Malaysia. In a statement he declared that Nuon Toeun was working legally in the country and had not committed any crime except expressing his opinions.
He stated that his deportation without due process was a “flagrant violation of international law and a serious attack on human rights.”
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