Ten Mother Nature activists sentenced over documenting sand dredging
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Ten Mother Nature activists who documented sand exports and coastal damage were sentenced in July 2024 to six to eight years on conspiracy charges. In 2018, two activists who filmed sand ships were jailed and fined after a complaint from LYP Group.
What happened
LICADHO reported that on 2 July 2024 ten Mother Nature activists, who had documented sand exports and coastal destruction, were sentenced to six to eight years on conspiracy charges.
RFA reported that in January 2018 two activists who filmed ships carrying silica sand offshore of an economic zone of Senator Ly Yong Phat were jailed and fined after a complaint by LYP Group.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2024-07-02Outcome not on recordMother Nature activists conspiracy caseCambodian court (name not stated in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · → Ten Mother Nature activists
Ten activists were sentenced to six to eight years on conspiracy charges (LICADHO). LICADHO
- 2018-01-26Outcome not on recordSand-dredging filming caseCambodian court (name not stated in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · LYP Group → Two activists
Two activists who filmed sand ships were jailed and fined after a complaint by LYP Group (RFA). RFA
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Court
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Global Witness (2010) said licences for sand were granted behind closed doors to companies linked to senators Mong Reththy and Ly Yong Phat, with no evidence that the revenue reached the state treasury.
- None on record Reported without a source link: in 2016 three Mother Nature activists were jailed, and a sand company was awarded $25,000 in compensation.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not establish whether the 2024 conspiracy charges were directly linked to the sand trade.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the court or say whether the 2024 sentences were appealed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Cambodian activists jailed, fined over sand-dredging monitoringRFA · 2018-01-26
Communities and civil society
- Mother Nature activists violently arrested, sentenced to 6-8 yearsLICADHO · 2024-07-02
Connected cases
- Cambodia fills Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak lake with sand under 99-year lease Cambodia · 2007–2011
- Mother Nature (NGO) — here: environmental group whose ten activists were sentenced in 2024; there: campaign group whose activists were prosecuted
- Cambodian sand exports to Singapore (Koh Kong, Mekong, Bassac) Cambodia · 2007–2026
- LYP Group (Company) — here: company whose complaint led to the 2018 jailing of two activists; there: Company of Senator Ly Yong Phat; Koh Kong sand licences; complainant against activists