Cambodia: Naga World union's representatives ask for a delay in questioning at court after their leader arrested over the weekend
"Court Summons NagaWorld Unionists to Testify About Labor Dispute", 30 November 2022
NagaWorld workers’ representatives have asked for a delay after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned them over a NagaCorp request for a verdict on their long-standing dispute over mass layoffs and alleged union-busting.
A summons issued by Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Pech Vicheathor ... ordered Naga worker representatives Chhim Sithar, Chhim Sokhorn, Ry Sovandy and Sun Sreypich to appear in court ... They were asked to give testimony based on a request from NagaCorp for a decision to recognize the termination of workers...
Sithar, the NagaWorld union president, is in jail after being arrested over the weekend.
Sokhorn, the union’s vice president, told ... that she and two other representatives had asked for a delay in giving testimony as they were not ready and did not have lawyers.
“I submitted a letter for a delay, and the court official received it and told me that they will send it to their superior,” she said, but added she did not know whether a delay was granted.
... In a statement ..., the Labor Ministry said it had held 21 mediation meetings with the protesting casino workers, and only 124 of them had yet to accept termination...
The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, issued a statement ... urging the release of NagaWorld union president Sithar, who was arrested for allegedly breaching bail conditions.
“Cambodian authorities have previously interfered with the exercise of workers’ rights by detaining union leaders and workers protesting the wrongful termination of NagaWorld employees,” it said...