Breaking: Tep Vanny's sentence upheld at Supreme Court

Tep Vanny's daughter, Kong Panha, joins protesters outside the Cambodia Supreme Court today. Pha Lina

Breaking: Tep Vanny's sentence upheld at Supreme Court

Phnom Penh Post | 7 February 2018

The Supreme Court this morning upheld a 30-month sentence for land activist Tep Vanny on charges relating to a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house that turned violent.

Presiding Judge Kem [Kim] Sathavy upheld the decision of the Appeal Court last August to keep Vanny in jail and serve out the remainder of her sentence.

Vanny was charged with committing aggravating intentional violence for allegedly ordering protesters to attack security guards, but during the 30-minute hearing prior to today's decision, Vanny insisted there was “no proof or evidence that I committed violence against the civil parties".

"I would like you to provide justice to me because I have been in prison for one and half years." she said.

Read more: A year of ‘hell’ in Prey Sar for Tep Vanny

As with all of the lower court hearings, the plaintiffs - Daun Penh security guards Hao Hoeurn and Ouk Ratana - did not appear in court today, and did not send legal representation in their stead. Their written statements, read out in court, have been the only evidence presented against Vanny in the case.

Vanny was first convicted over the protest in September 2016, and also has to serve another 6-month sentence for a separate protest outside City Hall in 2011.