By Sopheng Cheang, The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A Cambodian court sentenced two Thai political activists to lengthy prison terms Tuesday for illegally crossing the border and spying in a high-profile case that could have ramifications for Thai domestic politics.
In a one-day trial, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Veera Somkwamkid — who heads a political pressure group, the Thailand Patriot Network — and his assistant Ratree Pipatanapaiboon guilty of espionage, illegal entry and trespassing in a military zone. Veera was sentenced to eight years in prison and Ratree to six.
Veera's group promotes the claim that border lands held by Cambodia actually belong to Thailand. It has accused the current Thai government of failing to help the men in their court fight and tried to use the arrests to inflame nationalism at home.
Veera and Ratree were among seven Thais people arrested Dec. 29 after they crossed into northwestern Cambodia. The five, including a lawmaker from Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling Democrat Party, were given suspended sentences last month and allowed to return to Thailand.
The Thailand Patriot Network's members been demonstrating in Bangkok for the detainees' release, and their protests have attracted much attention in the press and the participation of the larger People's Alliance for Democracy, whose streets protests helped trigger a military coup in 2006 and topple two other prime ministers in 2008.
It was widely thought that the PAD had taken up the network's cause as a way to rally support. Though the demonstrations began as anti-Cambodian, they are now more critical of Abhisit's government — and what they say is its failure to protect Thai interests against its neighbour — and have inspired rumours of a coup against him.
The crowds have been small so far, but the harsh sentences given Tuesday may spur the protesters.
At the hearing, the two defendants denied the charges and claimed they were on Thai territory when arrested.
There was no explanation as to why the two were given more severe punishments than the others arrested, but Veera is an outspoken activist who has crossed illegally into Cambodia before. The two were also fined 3 million riels ($750) each.
The case has its origins in a dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over land near a landmark temple on their border.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the decision rankled Thailand, which still claims land around the temple.
The issue was virtually dormant until Cambodia applied in 2008 to UNESCO to have the temple declared a World Heritage site, an application backed by the government in power in Bangkok at the time.
Thai nationalists claimed that the action threatened Thailand's sovereignty, though their protests were seen as mainly a way of rallying opponents to the government then in power. Both countries' leaders, defending their patriotic credentials, then built up military forces at the border, which have engaged in several brief clashes.
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