Released Protester Urges for Release of the Boeng Kak 13
Sao Saroeun, a Phnom Penh resident arrested last month for demonstrating against CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin’s Boeng Kak real estate project and released on bail last week, urged the courts to release 13 women still being detained at Prey Sar prison yesterday. The 13 women were sentenced to two-and-a-half-year jail terms by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after a summary trial on May 24 widely condemned by rights groups. Mr. Saroeun, 73, and Ly Channary, 40, were arrested outside the trial and held in pre-trial detention until their surprise release Friday on bail. … The 13 women were convicted on the same charges with which Mr. Saroeun and Ms. Channary weren’t convicted and have a hearing at the Appeal Court scheduled for June 27. The women accuse Mr. Meng Khin’s finn, Shukaku Inc., of stealing their land and illegally evicting thousands of families.
