Battambang demonstrators get bussed out of town

Monday, 09 August 2010
By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

MUNICIPAL and Daun Penh district police yesterday forcibly broke up a demonstration near Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh home by villagers from Battambang province, loading them onto a bus out of town in a move that drew swift condemnation from rights workers.

The roughly 50 demonstrators were hoping to draw attention to their fight for 1,672 hectares of land in Kors Kralor district that is also claimed by Long Sidare, a military police officer in the capital who in September 2008 began trying to relocate 415 families in order to develop a rubber plantation.

Representatives of the demonstrators said five people, including a 3-year-old, suffered minor injuries during the altercation with police, who forced the entire group onto a bus that set off for Battambang at around noon.
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Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Authorities escort a wailing woman and child away from a demonstration staged by Battambang province villagers near Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh home yesterday. The protesters sought to draw attention to their land dispute with a military police officer. Their forced evacuation out of the city by bus drew swift condemnation from human rights workers.