"Kuoy villagers in court over alleged seizure of bulldozers", 28 March 2019

Four ethnic Kuoy villagers appeared in Preah Vihear provincial court … for allegedly seizing two bulldozers from a Chinese-owned company in a … dispute that saw a group of locals attempt to prevent the firm from clearing their rice fields...

A … court summons issued by Preah Vihear provincial court’s Investigating Judge Chean Sros ordered eight people to appear over three days for questioning over a charge of “illegal confinement and detention”.

An employee at the Ponlok Khmer NGO suspected of being an accomplice in the incident in Brame commune’s Bos Thom village in Tbeng Meanchey district was also called…

“I think [the court summons] is unfair for the indigenous minority group and the NGO employee who tried to protect their land. In return, they were sued by the company for confiscating the company’s bulldozers on their own land."

“The community had filed a complaint against the company for illegal land clearing, but the court never took action. But when the company or authorities filed a lawsuit against the people of the community, the court’s actions were very swift.”

Roeung Khan, deputy chief of the Brame commune indigenous community, asked the provincial court to drop the charges against the nine…

Provincial court spokeswoman Chum Kaniya declined to comment, saying she did not have enough information on the matter.

Tbeng Meanchey district governor Kong Sophorn said … that he could not respond to villagers’ questions…