Sunday, September 5, 2010

Battambang fugitive tells of flight to forest

By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

ONE of three village representatives sought by police on charges related to a land dispute in Battambang province surfaced in Pailin province yesterday after hiding in the forest for the last week to avoid arrest.

“The three of us got lost and separated because the police were following and trying to arrest us. Now I don’t know where the other two representatives are,” said Van Dy, a 42-year-old village representative from Kors Kralor district’s Doun Ba commune.

“I had no food in the forest, so I had to eat different kinds of leaves,” she said. During her flight, she had avoided roads and populated areas, she said. She also asked that her exact location not be revealed.

Van Dy and two other village representatives went into hiding on August 12 after another representative, Nha Mak, was arrested at his home in Doun Ba commune on August 9.

On August 22, 2008, Van Dy, Nha Mak and three other village representatives were sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for robbery and destruction of public property. One man, Hun Sengly, was arrested shortly after the verdict, and the others fled their homes.

Earlier this month the group emerged from hiding to lend support to their community, which is embroiled in a long-running land dispute with Long Sidare, a military police official in Phnom Penh.

Readmore

No comments:

Post a Comment