A former CNRP commune chief rejected evidence brought by the court as part of the latest opposition mass trial, saying the voice on a recorded phone conversation belonged to another person.
The denial came as the Phnom Penh Municipal Court resumed hearings into the plotting case against CNRP activists who allegedly supported the attempt return of overseas vice-president Mu Sochua. The court on Thursday morning questioned Khan Bunpheng, former chief of Battambang city’s Prek Preah Sdech commune.
Bunpheng told the court that since the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017, he had not been involved in politics, staying at home and helping his wife take their grandchildren to school.
“I was at home, was not involved in politics. This is the truth,” he said. “I have never participated in any activities. The accusations against me are contrary to the truth. I didn’t even dare to meet my friends. I only wished for happiness, but I didn’t even get that.”
He was questioned about a neighbor, Seng Sokleng. It was not immediately clear if this was a misnaming of another defendant in the trial as previously announced, Heng Sokleng. Bunpheng said he lived in the same village as Sokleng, and Sokleng had called him two or three times a day about Sochua’s return.
Bunpheng said he believed Sokleng was mentally disturbed.
“I say this not as an insult — everyone in the village knows it. When he wants to say something to someone, he has to say it. Even when he knew I didn’t care anymore, he called me two or three times a day. I blocked [his number], but he got angry and rode a motorcycle to my house. Later, I would pick up but put the phone away, and allow him to speak whatever it was.”
After the judge’s questioning, prosecutor Seng Heang played a phone conversation between Sokleng and Bunpheng.
“This voice is Seng Sokleng’s,” Bunpheng retorted. “Why use Seng Sokleng’s words and name me as the speaker? Regarding Mu Sochua’s return, giving 50,000 [riel] to come to Phnom Penh, finding a place to stay for the arrival, and such, these are all Seng Sokleng’s words.”
The next hearing has been scheduled for October 6.
Thirty-nine defendants are on trial for plotting over Sochua’s attempted return from overseas in November 2019. Most are abroad. Two are being tried separately, and only three were present in the courtroom on Thursday: Kong Mas, Voeung Samnang and Bunpheng. They are already in jail in Prey Sar prison for other cases.
