Sunday, May 9, 2010

Men flee arrest in Svay Rieng land dispute

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

POLICE in Svay Rieng province on Wednesday night tried and failed to arrest four men they have accused of being “ringleaders” in a protest related to a land dispute involving a rubber company, villagers and officials said.

On Sunday, Romeas Hek district police arrested Yea Yeoung immediately after the protest, accusing him of destroying police property and “briefly kidnapping” a representative of the Peam Chaing Rubber Company, which was granted a concession totalling nearly 4,000 hectares in the district in 2007. More than 400 families say the concession impinges on their land.

Yea Yeoung remains in police custody, and he has not been charged with any crime, Romeas Hek police Chief Chum Ry said Thursday.

Sam Dara, the police chief of Tras commune, where the disputed land is located, on Thursday confirmed reports from villagers that police officers had tried to arrest four more protesters on Wednesday night.

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