A jailed father and daughter whose family is locked in a land dispute with real estate magnate Khun Sear were questioned Thursday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over charges of using violence against a property owner and stealing property from the tycoon’s company.
Ly Sreang Kheng, 58, and Ly Searminh, 23, were detained last month in the wake of a series of attacks on the family after they refused to accept $15,000 for their house in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district.
Their lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, said he had tried unsuccessfully to postpone the hearing after the plaintiff in the case—the Khun Sear Import Export Company—sent only a lawyer and no company representative to answer questions.
Mr. Sreang Kheng, who along with his daughter rejects the charges, told the court he believed the case was being used to force his family to vacate their home.
“The Khun Sear company had a representative talk to me in prison and they offered me 50 hectares of land in Sandan district in Kompong Thom province,” he said during the hearing.
“[But] we will continue to fight with them since we demand the company pay us $250,000.”
