Forum leads to clashes
Police officers, some of them armed with batons and shields, clashed with Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Mu Sochua and villagers yesterday as authorities cracked down on a public election forum at a private home in Battambang town. Sochua said she and others were left with scratches on their arms after about 50 officers blocked villagers from accessing the forum, organised by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media’s Voice of Democracy program. “Police were blocking them from coming,” she said. “They were threatening them, saying the event was not legal. “More police came with shields and batons.… Police started pushing me away from villagers.” The authorities, Sochua said, had “no grounds whatsoever” to say the conference – designed to answer villagers’ questions about the election – was illegal. “It’s a huge violation of the rights of the people,” she continued. “It’s not democratic, it’s not helpful to the government and we condemn this type of behaviour.” …
