Mr. Ny Chakrya is the former head of Human Rights and Legal Aid section of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the former Deputy Secretary-General of the National Election Commission. Mr. Chakrya was charged with defamation, slander and interference with the independence of the judiciary because of press conferences he gave, while still with ADHOC, requesting an investigation into the Investigating Judge and Prosecutor for procedural irregularities and lack of independence. These criminal defamation and slanderous denunciation charges seem to be in direct retaliation for Mr. Chakrya’s request for an investigation to be opened. Thus, the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights sent an independent trial observer who personally observed the entire trial of Ny Chakrya on September 22, 2016 in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.