On 8 March 2024, 29 land rights defenders were charged with “clearing forestland and enclosing it to claim for ownership”, following a longstanding land dispute between several villages and Seladamex Co., Ltd. in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia. In a recent development, police officers entered the villages firing live ammunition and arrested the defenders who have recently been charged.

Seladamex had been granted an Economic Land Concession in March 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Preah Vihear’s Kuleaen district. The concession led to land conflicts with hundreds of families who were already living in the area.