"Ethnic group ‘disappointed’ to be denied French visas to attend court", 13 February 2019

A press release said the 11 included a lawyer, a translator and nine representatives of the indigenous group, totaling 114 people…

The group took legal action against Bollore, a firm that funded Socfin-KCD, last year.

The communities filed a civil action lawsuit to claim damages and demand compensation from Socfin-KCD, which received loans from Bollore, which has operated a rubber plantation in Mondulkiri province since 2008…

…, a French court issued a summons inviting the nine members of the indigenous community behind the lawsuit to appear at the court hearing in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, …

Tola said the French embassy denied the visa applications.

… “I hope the French Embassy in Phnom Penh holds human rights in high regard, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, and reconsider their decision to reject our visa applications for the next date set by the [French] judge,” he said.

Mathilde Teruya, a political and press counsellor at the French embassy, said … that the visa applications submitted did not comply with EU Schengen regulations. “Their presence at the tribunal wasn’t compulsory at this stage of the trial,” Teruya said…