Villagers involved in a land dispute in Preah Vihear province say police attempted to arrest one of their representatives on Wednesday after about 200 of them returned to reclaim their land, while the district governor said he was only seeking to speak with the villagers.
Chan Sophea, 44, who was among the families displaced from Choam Ksan district’s Svay Chrum village in 2011, said the group had returned to their village from Phnom Penh on Tuesday after receiving a letter they believed would allow them to reclaim the land, which is controlled by the National Authority for Preah Vihear.
On Wednesday morning, district police arrived at about 6 a.m. at Sra Em pagoda, where the families were staying, and told three representatives, Kan Ngim, Keo Ne and Kin Chantha, to come with them to speak with district governor Sea Kimseng—an order the villagers refused to follow for fear they would be arrested, Ms. Sophea said.
Soon after, police attempted to apprehend Mr. Chantha when he left the pagoda to eat noodles, she said.
“I saw a truck with sirens stop in front of the coffee shop at about 7 a.m., then about 10 police went into the shop and told Mr. Kin Chantha that the district governor wanted to meet him,” she said.
“But when Mr. Chantha refused to go with them, they grabbed him and brought him to the truck, and the people who were eating noodle soup in the coffee shop fought with the police and stopped them from arresting him.”
Ms. Sophea said the district governor came to the pagoda about an hour later to meet with villagers and examine the letter they had brought, which was signed by Interior Minister Sar Kheng and addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Bin Chhin, chairman of the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution, asking him to find a solution for the families.
Mr. Kimseng confirmed that he wanted to meet the three representatives to discuss the reason for the community’s return but said they had misinterpreted the letter supposedly allowing them to occupy the land.
“We did not allow those families to return to the land because I have not seen an official letter proving that the families can return to stay on their original land,” he said, adding that he had not ordered police to arrest the villagers.
“I did not order police to arrest the three representatives. But even if I had attempted to arrest them, they would not be able to escape because they are staying on my land,” he said, referring to the district.
