A security officer prepares to hit a demonstrator with his baton during a rally yesterday at Freedom Park. Pha Lina
Violence mars rally for licence
The government’s haphazardly enforced crackdown on public
gatherings continued yesterday as independent radio broadcaster Mam
Sonando and a crowd of supporters were able to gather just east of
Freedom Park, though not without violence.
While one man was badly beaten by Daun Penh district security guards,
two more slightly injured and another arrested and later released,
Sonando was still able to deliver his remarks in support of his ongoing
bid for a TV licence, albeit with the intermittent interference of
security and police, who periodically shepherded protesters further
eastward.
Horn and fellow demonstrator Sar Sorn were also slightly injured after they came to Leng’s aid.
“I saw those security forces hitting a man until he got a head
injury, so I screamed at them to stop hitting that man, but they went
after me, an old man,” Horn said, adding that he had been struck in the
leg and kicked by guards.
Sorn, a protester from the Borei Keila community, said she had tried
to flee when the beating started but was hit in the leg and fell to the
ground.
“We did not come to protest against the authorities, but we came to
ask the government to grant a television licence to Mam Sonando so that
he can set up an independent TV channel that will broadcast real news
about what is going on in Cambodian society,” Sorn said.
After the early confrontations, however, a larger group of
protesters, bolstered by Sonando’s arrival, were able to move into the
parkland on the eastern side of Naga Bridge, where Sonando delivered
several speeches as police and security looked on.
“The people aren’t asking for power, they’re only asking for a
television licence. Why do you not give it to us?” he said. “If they
gave us the licence, the problem would be finished, but they use the
police and armed forces to crack down on us.”
Periodically, a line of police and security guards slowly edged the
group eastward before halting, allowing the protesters to regroup a few
metres away and continue their speeches. By about 10am, Sonando had left
and the protest had dwindled to several groups of 20 to 30, who
remained in the park talking as security forces sat idly by.
City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche yesterday defended the
interference, saying the protest had been unapproved and that the police
action had been necessary to prevent “anarchy”.
“We informed Mam Sonando that we did not agree to let the people
gather until the court declares the results of the investigations on the
accidents caused by previous demonstrations,” he said. “Therefore, his
action right now is against the law.”
Mam
Sonando, owner of Beehive Radio, is escorted away from municipal
security personnel by supporters in Freedom Park yesterday during a
demonstration. Pha Lina
However, Ou Virak, chairman of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights,
said yesterday that the municipality’s justification was “absurd as it
can be”.
Virak also characterised the authorities’ half-hearted attempts to
stop Sonando’s protest – and an opposition demonstration on Sunday that
was ultimately allowed to march through the city – as an effort by the
government to stifle dissent while at the same time not engendering
further ill will.
“They don’t want major protests to lead to the removal of Hun Sen,
but if they ban it completely, they can antagonise and frustrate the
population even further,” he said. “So there’s a balance.”
“If they crack down brutally, they will probably anger the population
further, and the population might come out in force, and they don’t
want that,” he added.
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