Tep Vong orders monk defrocked

Tim Sakhorn, a Khmer Krom monk, went missing over the weekend following orders by Tep Vong, a top Cambodian Buddhist official, that he be defrocked, The Cambodia Daily reported today.

Adhoc, a local rights group, has adamantly denounced the alleged kidnapping of Sakhorn and continues to call for Cambodian authorities to disclose his whereabouts.

Tep Vong, the Great Supreme Patriarch, has continuously accused Sakhorn of seeking to establish a religious movement in his Phnom Den pagoda. “Tim Sakhorn has breached the Buddhist discipline and caused a split in national and international unity, especially between the two countries of Cambodia and Vietnam,” Tep Vong alleged.

Non Nget has accused monks under Sakhorn of starting infighting between monks and insulting the Vietnamese. This is contrary to what Adhoc’s claims. Prak Sarann, Adhoc coordinator for the Takeo province, stated that there was “no evidence that [Sakhorn] had been taking in monks claiming to be fleeing persecution in southern Vietnam.”

Thach Setha, executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community organization, believes that Sakhorn was defrocked for political, and not religious, reasons.