CPP Senator’s Sugar Plantation Land Dispute Case Goes to Trial

Describing a 5,000-hectare land dispute between Koh Kong villagers and a sugar company owned by CPP Senator Ly Yong Pgat as "a complicated case," Koh Kong Provincial Court has decided to try it before a three-judge panel, a lawyer for the villagers said yesterday. The court order came after a June 9 decision to proceed with 30 days of extrajudicial negotiations, which required the 252 families involved in the dispute to submit documents as proof of land ownership, Ms Sorphonneary said. Although lawyers for the villagers submitted their evidence to the court on time, the deadline for an out-of-court settlement passed with no response from the company, she added.