Despite a municipal ban and the presence of near 100 armed police, about 50 workers marched peacefully through the streets of Phnom Penh to the Royal Palace Tuesday morning.
Representing workers from 70 garment factories, the demonstrators rallied for the absent King Norodom Sihanouk to grant national hero status to slain union leader Chea Vichea.
Though police did not deter demonstrators from marching, workers carrying a petition to the King, which weighed 6 kg and bore the thumb-prints of 20,892 people, met brief resistance from Royal Palace officials.
A guard at the Royal Palace, who declined to give his name, initially refused to accept the petition.
“Royal officials don’t work today. They’ve all gone out,” he said.
The guard changed his mind, however, when demonstrators began calling workers from their factories to stop work and join the protest march. Faced with the prospect of more demonstrators gathering at the palace, the guard fetched Royal Palace Cabinet officials who emerged to accept the petition.
Workers’ representatives critisized the palace’s move to block them from delivering their message to the King.
“Today is a working day so why do [palace officials] say they don’t work?” asked Chea Mony, the brother of Chea Vichea and a board member of the Free Trade Union.
“The Royal Palace has shamed the King because they are lying to the people, who are the children of the King,” added Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ association and FTU board member.
Palace officials could not be reached for comment.
Granting the title of national hero to Chea Vichea, who was gunned down by unknown assailants Jan 22, would allow the FTU to erect a statue in Phnom Penh in his honor, the union said.
The municipality on Monday denied permission for the march. In response to the workers’ defiance of its order, the city deployed about 100 police Tuesday morning, including the elite Flying Tiger police, wielding AK-47s machineguns pistols and batons.
Though several unauthorized demonstrations over the past year have been brutally crushed by police, no violence was reported at Tuesday’s march.
