The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court delayed Monday’s scheduled trial of six men, including a deputy district governor, charged with allegedly selling land in O’Yadaw district that belongs to RCAF Major General Kao Try, a court official said.
Kao Try lodged a complaint with the provincial court in October, accusing O’Yadaw Deputy Governor Chhim Chhean; Lam Chaly, the wife of O’Yadaw Deputy Governor Than Kang; and four others—a Khmer, a Laotian and two ethnic Jarai men, Court Director Yar Narin said.
None are in pre-trial detention, he said.
Yar Narin said that he has delayed the trial until the accused find defense attorneys. He declined to comment further on the case.
In August, more than 180 Jarai families accused Kao Try and three other individuals of illegally obtaining title for 200 hectares of land that the villagers claim they have been living on since 1979.
Pouy Yong, a representative of the 180 families and one of the charged men, claimed Monday that some Jarai villagers had lost part of the disputed land to moneylenders in 2001, but he reiterated that that land belonged to them and not Kao Try.
“This is our land. This is our indigenous land,” he said, adding that Kao Try has been pressuring the villagers to leave their land.
Sul Lin, one of the charged Jarai men, admitted to selling 50 square meters of land in 2001 for $500, but said that he was within his rights to do so because he owned the land in question.
“I did not steal anyone’s land to sell,” he said.
Chhim Chhean and Lam Chaly could not be reached for comment Monday.
Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said Kao Try has documents showing that he bought the land in 1991, but since the general has not developed or lived on the land since 1993, according to the land law, it’s no longer his.
“The charges are not right because Kao Try lost the right to own the land,” he said, adding that the land now belongs to the Jarai villagers.
Kao Try’s lawyer Heng Sotheara declined to comment on the case.
