• Society

Two Taiwanese Men Jailed over Fake Videos

• By Meng Seavmey
• February 16, 2024 3:10 PM

PHNOM PENH – Two Taiwanese men have been jailed for two years for incitement after staging ghost and torture videos in Preah Sihanouk province. 

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court prosecutor said on Feb. 15 that Chen Neng Chuan, 31, and Lu Tsu Hsien, 34, were also fined four million riel (approximately $1,000).

Provincial governor Kuoch Chamroeun said the content severely damaged the reputation of the country by causing a false sense of insecurity and disorder in the province. 

On Feb. 12, the men started posting acts live on a Facebook account named Wa An Xiao Ji, showing them purportedly being captured and beaten up by security.

The acts continued the next day, including their escape, their screams for help and saying in Chinese they were escaping from being tortured. 

Materials used for the videos. Photo_ Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration

The topics in the video include human trafficking, torture, sexual abuse and selling human's organs, according to the court. 

After the interrogation, the prosecutor accused the men of incitement in Pram Muoy village in Preah Sihanouk city. 

Chamroeun said the two men came to Cambodia on Feb. 11 and kept posting videos of them being captured on social media to gain views and to sell their products. 

They were charged under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code.  Article 494 says, “Incitement is punishable when it is committed by speech of any kind, made in public place or meeting; by writing or picture of any kind, either displayed or distributed to the public; by any audio-visual communication to the public.”

Article 495 says, “The direct incitement to commit a felony or to disturb social security by employing one of the means defined in Article 494 of this Code shall be punishable by imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine from one million to four million riels, where the incitement was ineffective.”

Chamroeun said, “Seeing their profile pictures, we were able to address their appearance and informed the public about the two wanted individuals. With the public’s help, we managed to know where they were staying.”

In consultation with the provincial prosecutor, Lieutenant-General Sar Rotha and the team started tracking their location and issued an immediate order to arrest the vloggers on Feb. 14. 

The authority also seized materials, including ghost masks, they had used for the videos. 

Chen Neng Chuan (left) and Lu Tsu Hsien (right). Photo_ Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration

One-month plan of staged ghost and abuse stories

The men said that they had planned to record in Phnom Penh and had searched for abandoned buildings, but the buildings were not suitable for their video content, so they changed to Preah Sihanouk province instead, according to the governor.

They thought of the plan in mid-January, and they were planning to go to Siem Reap province for their next videos, after leaving Preah Sihanouk province. 

They targeted a building around Otres Beach, around 5km from the Two Lions roundabout. The videos tell haunting ghost stories they had prepared at the hotels, casinos and other places in the province. 

In the videos, they showed that they were being captured and tortured but somehow escaped. After having seen the video, the provincial authority called for an urgent investigation. 

To assure all people and tourists in the province, the governor called on the public to be at ease as the security and order remained safe.