Villain or victim? Protesters divided over Bopha
Imprisoned Yorm Bopha has either been unjustly targeted for her role in Boeung Kak lake eviction protests or is responsible for the vicious beating of two motodops, depending on which protesters’ chants were true yesterday. It was land evictees versus motodops in the capital as two separate protests revealed divided opinion over Bopha’s pre-trial detention in Prey Sar prison since her arrest last week on an intentional violence charge. Almost 200 motodops, members of the Cambodia for Confederation Development Association, rode from Freedom Park to the Court of Appeal to demand the continued detention of the 29-year-old mother, who along with 65-year-old Borei Keila representative Tim Sakmony, was arrested last week. … On Monivong Boulevard, about 200 residents from the Boeung Kak and Borei Keila communities, mostly women and children, were blocked by about 100 police in their bid to reach the Ministry of Justice to file a petition objecting to the women’s arrest and detention. A clash ensued when protesters, some wearing masks that carried Bopha’s face and chanting slogans, resisted police efforts to stop them.
