Clash Over Eviction Plan

Police in Cambodia’s capital beat and detain residents seeking government intervention. (RFA)

2011-04-21
Radio Free Asia

Residents of Boeung Kak Lake scuffle with police in front of city hall in Phnom Penh, April 21, 2011.

Cambodian police on Thursday clashed with 100 people demonstrating in the capital against their eviction in a land deal, leaving four injured and detaining eight, according to a representative of the protesters.

The scuffle began when police armed with riot shields, wooden sticks and batons tried to disperse the demonstrators from city hall, where they had gathered to protest the planned eviction of 1,500 families from Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak Lake district.

The families had been told to make way for a luxury residential complex being constructed by Chinese development firm Shukaku Inc.