Workers shot at Puma supplier protest in Cambodia

Feb 20, 2012
DPA

Phnom Penh - A woman was in a critical condition after being shot during a protest outside a factory supplying sportswear giant Puma SE in south-eastern Cambodia on Monday, rights groups said.

Workers at Kao Way factory in Bavet, near the Vietnamese border in Svay Rieng province, were protesting early Monday when a unidentified gunman fired shots, said rights group Licadho.

According to initial reports, three workers were seriously injured. One woman was in a critical condition after being shot in the chest and was coughing up blood, Licadho consultant Mathieu Pellerin said.

Up to 1,000 people were present at the strike, he said, citing workers' accounts. Workers were protesting unfair working conditions, according to local media reports.

Puma said it had 'immediately started investigations to obtain detailed information on the occurrences.'

'Puma takes this incident very seriously and will take all measures to ensure that the safety of its supplier factory workers is paramount,' the German company said in a statement.

Consultant Joel Preston of NGO Cambodia Legal Education Centre added that the incident contributed to a 'worrying' trend of violence being used against protesters in Cambodia in recent months.

Chieng Am, governor of Svay Rieng province, told news agency Xinhua that he had ordered the police to hunt for the perpetrator.