Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Land Activists Warned Not To Protest During Asean Summit

Representatives from the two neighborhoods told VOA Khmer Monday they would continued to hold demonstrations, despite the warning

Protesters who do try to gather for the summits will be met with a crackdown, said Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

13.11.2012
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

PHNOM PENH - Cambodian authorities are warning land and rights activists not to hold protests when the country hosts Asean leaders for a series of summits in Phnom Penh next week.

Protesters who do try to gather for the summits will be met with a crackdown, said Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

Cambodia is hosting an annual Asean leaders summit, along with the East Asia Summit, which will be attended by regional leaders, as well as US President Barack Obama and other high-profile Western leaders.

“We will do everything…to protect the security of top leaders joining the summit,” Khieu Sopheak told VOA Khmer.

Land grabs for rural and urban development projects have created a mass of ongoing protests, particularly from ousted residents of the Boeung Kak and Borei Keila neighborhoods of Phnom Penh, who are highly organized and consistently hold demonstrations that often lead to violent clashes with police.


That has included numerous protests against the September detention of two land activists from the communities, who are still being held by the courts on charges widely considered spurious.

Representatives from the two neighborhoods told VOA Khmer Monday they would continued to hold demonstrations, despite the warning.

The government created the problem by arresting the activists, said Tep Vanny, an outspoken activist. To solve it, the authorities need to release the two, she said.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Where is suppression,there will be struggle to free from the suppression of these communism! Suppressors will not grant you freedom,you need to free yourself from the oppressors by any means necessary....Live free or dies....Do you want to live in prison in your own home? Do you want to live under the shackles of communism Cpp/Hanoi? Do you want to live free like God intents you to live? If the answer is yes,fight for your freedom! Freedom will never be freed,freedom attach with bloods,sweats,tears or lives...Its up to you to fight the oppressors to free yourself and your families or living under the shackles of these Cpp and Hanoi communism forever....May god helps you....May god bless kampuchea...

Kmenhwatt