Evictees, Activists Scuffle With Police in Front of City Hall
Evictees and anti-eviction activists on Wednesday briefly scuffled with police and security guards after cutting off traffic in front of Phnom Penh City Hall to demand that businesswoman Suy Sophan compensate them for homes that were bulldozed early last year. Human rights group Adhoc said at least three women were injured and issued a statement condemning the heavy-handed tactics by district security guards, especially some of whom were wielding batons fastened with metal knuckle-dusters. … The 50-odd protesters—mostly women—had marched from the Borei Keila neighborhood, the scene of a violent eviction in January 2012 during which bulldozers demolished the ramshackle homes of some 300 families. Once in front of City Hall, they blocked off Monivong Boulevard when Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong did not come out to meet with them. About 100 riot police and Daun Penh security guards, who are not police officers, soon massed nearby and marched on the protesters, some of whom were lying down in the road refusing to move. During the tense standoff, as the police were pelted with water bottles, one man was chased down by the district security guards, pulled to the ground and kicked repeatedly even though he was not resisting or fighting back. The man was quickly lead into the City Hall compound and later taken to the municipal police headquarters. The Borei Keila protesters accuse Ms. Sophan of breaking a promise to build 10 apartment blocks for the hundreds of families living in the area when the city granted her firm, Phanimex, a lease to develop the area several years ago. …
Khuon Narim and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/evictees-activists-scuffle-with-police-in-front-of-city-hall-46362/
