CNRP Denied Permission to March to UN, Embassies

The Phnom Penh Municipality on Friday said it would only allow 10,000 protesters to attend the opposition party’s planned mass-demonstration next week and that the demonstrators would not be allowed to leave Freedom Park. On Friday, the municipality officially rejected the CNRP request to hold a three-day demonstration with 20,000 to 50,000 participants, and a 20,000-people-strong march to U.N. offices and several foreign embassies was also not permitted. City Hall spokesperson Long Dimanche said on Friday that the municipality could only allow a maximum of 10,000 protesters—the capacity of Freedom Park—and that if the CNRP’s protest would exceed that number, it would need special permission from the Ministry of Interior. “It is not within the authority of Phnom Penh City Hall to [give permission] for a rally joined by 20,000 to 50,000 people and a march to embassies with 20,000 people, as the CNRP has asked for,” in a letter sent Thursday, Mr. Dimanche said. “We do not allow them to march to embassies because we can imagine what happens when 20,000 protesters march on the streets; it will affect the traffic, public security and there might be acts of violence,” Mr. Dimanche said, adding that City Hall would forward the request to the Ministry of Interior on Friday night. …

 Khuon Narim and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-denied-permission-to-march-to-un-embassies-45470/