Anti-Eviction Activists Conjure Up Curses to Bolster Cause
Residents of Phnom Penh's Boeng Kak and Borei Keila neighborhoods yesterday sprinkled a concoction of chili, salt and black rice into flames of a small fire in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to "curse" the court officials they accuse of unjustly charging and jailing two fellow anti-eviction activists. ... "We held this black magic cursing ceremony because we have suffered from a court system that is not independent'" said Tep Vanny, one of the protesters. ... "The people turn to use this belief [black magic] as a way of providing justice because they have become hopeless in depending on the law and justice...in Cambodia. Hence, they prey for intervention of...supernatural beings or gods to help," he [Vong Sotheara, deputy head of the history department at the Royal University of Phnom Penh] said. ...
