Tuot Saron is a

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

n activist for the

Sam Rainsy Party The Candlelight Party ( km, គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន) is a liberal party in Cambodia. The party was a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Liberal International, and the Alliance of Democrats. It is the largest ...

(SRP). He was imprisoned from 2008 to 2010 on a charge of "being an accomplice to unlawful confinement".

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

called the charges against him politically motivated and named him a prisoner of conscience. Tuot Saron served as a commune chief of Pong Ro commune, Baray District, Kampong Thom Province. In the months leading up to Cambodia's 2008 General Election, Tuot Saron and three colleagues were allegedly asked to protect an SRP candidate, Tim Norn, who had come under pressure to join the ruling

Cambodian People’s Party The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; is a Cambodian political party which has ruled Cambodia since 1979. Founded in 1951, it was originally known as the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP)., UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ...

(CPP). Following the candidate's later defection to the CPP, Tuot Saron was arrested on 18 March on charges of having abducted the candidate. On 20 March 2009, he was brought to trial, convicted, and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Several international human rights groups protested his arrest.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

described the arrest as "dubious" and "part of a ruling party campaign to weaken political rivals prior to national elections".

called the charges "baseless and politically motivated" and stated that they were filed "in order to intimidate other opposition party activists". The organization named Tuot Saron a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release. Tuot Saron was released on 26 November 2010, following a Royal Pardon decree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuot, Saron Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cambodia Cambodian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Recipients of Cambodian royal pardons Cambodian prisoners and detainees