PHNOM PENH: Five Cambodian land activists were arrested yesterday in the latest move by the authorities to suppress street protests against the government of strongman premier Hun Sen, a rights group said.
The five women were detained as they prepared to stage a rally in front of the French Embassy to call for the release of other human rights defenders, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights said.
The activists are from the Boeung Kak community, where thousands of families have been displaced to make way for a private development at a lakeside area in the capital Phnom Penh.
Hun Sen faces an increasing challenge to his nearly three-decade rule from striking garment workers as well as opposition supporters demanding that he step down and call a new election because of alleged vote fraud.
Police have indefinitely banned further rallies after several demonstrators were shot dead on Friday. AFP
