Seven women protesting evictions from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok lake have been summoned to court for incitement and obstruction based on a complaint by the district security chief.

The summons are made after dozens of Boeng Tamok residents staged another rally near their lakeside shacks to protest looming evictions as the lake is filled and turned into private developments.

Vast tracts of the lake have been parceled out to connected individuals and institutions, including the land management minister’s daughter and a senator’s wife. Residents living along the rapidly dwindling lake’s northeast clashed with district security guards as sand-filling approached their homes in this recent week.

The seven court summonses said the recipients must appear at the municipal court on August 3. The seven women were accused of “obstruction and incitement to cause chaos on a public road”.