Men Questioned After refusing To Hand Over Student Donation
Authorities in Battambang province on Saturday summoned two villagers from Salmot district’s Ta Sanh commune after they refused to hand over money to officials asking for donations to feed students working in the area as part of the government’s nationwide land titling project. … Heng Somaly 38, and Tak Khauy, 36, both of whom live in O’Sngout village, were questioned … after … the pair had spoken to a local radio station about having to pay money to officials in order to feed the student volunteers, who are currently demarcating land for 1, 300 families in the area, according to Commune Cheif Choun Pheng. … Mr. Pheng said the two men were summoned as they had defamed authorities by speaking on the radio. Since Prime Minister Hun Sen launched the land titling program in June, more than 125,00 land titles have been handed out to villagers and tens of thousands more will be handed out before the national election in July. But right workers say the program is riddled with irregularities. Last week, for example, representatives of 46 Pursat province families filed complaints with Mr Hun Sen’s Cabinet and the Ministry of Land Management accusing local authorities of denying them their land titles. …
