"Villagers from two provinces march to three ministries over land disputes", 9 January 2020

Nearly 100 villagers from Tboung Khmum and Svay Rieng provinces ... marched to three ministries in the capital to hand over petitions related to land disputes in their communities.

They first gathered outside the Justice Ministry to ask it drop charges against 23 activists who protested against an alleged land grab by a company in Svay Reing province and to free two others who were detained over a protest against a Chinese-owned plantation in Tboung Khmum province...

Khieu Saron, a representative of residents in Svay Reing province’s Romeas Hek district, ... said that 440 families are in a long-standing dispute with NK Ventures Cambodia involving 670 hectares of residential and farming land ...

She said the dispute with NK Ventures started more than ten years ago and that in 2016 the company sold the disputed land to another company Meng Chhenglim Group.

Ms Saron noted that both companies had filed lawsuits against the villagers and 23 of them were charged in court over the dispute in 2016...

He noted that Chhoeun has been charged by the provincial court with intentional violence, incitement to commit a felony, intentional damage, and issuing a death threat, while Sang has been charged with extortion through the use of weapons.

Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin, ... said that as a matter of legal principle, the Ministry of Justice cannot intervene in an ongoing court case.

Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Interior who received the petitions for intervention, ... said they will send them to their higher-ups for resolution.