Japan-based Cambodian activist demands Hun Sen and PM son release his brother

Vannith Hay, 28, brother of activist Vanna Hay, was detained on August 16 as he attempted to cross the Cambodian border into Thailand, the latter told This Week in Asia. Vannith was trying to flee his homeland just days after Vanna managed to get seven members of his immediate family to Japan, where he has lived since 2008.

In July, in his current capacity as the president of the Cambodian Senate, Hun Sen called on the government to identify locally- and overseas-based individuals and groups opposed to the CLV and their family members, said Vanna, the leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Movement in Japan.

Consequently, around 60 people were detained in a crackdown between August 14 and August 19. Vannith, who works for the health ministry, has never publicly expressed any position on the CLV and is not a member of any protest group, according to his brother.

“My brother has nothing to do with my political advocacy,” Vanna insisted. “He is a public servant with the National Institute of Public Health and a researcher who has been working hard to improve the health of the ordinary people of Cambodia.”

Vanna added that his family were “very frightened” when “Hun Sen warned people at home and the diaspora abroad” not to continue their protests against the CLV and news of the crackdown began to spread in Cambodia.

While the rest of the Hay family chose to leave the country, Vannith believed he would be safe because he worked for the health ministry and had never been involved in political protests. When he realised that he was in danger as well and tried to leave for Thailand, it was too late, his brother said.

“We have been trying to contact him but we have very little information,” said Vanna, who vowed to continue his