Seventeen villagers from Banteay Meanchey province’s O’Chrou district filed a complaint yesterday with the rights group Adhoc after their homes were allegedly unlawfully bulldozed in June last year.

One of the villagers, 51-year-old Chhut Chamreun, said that houses belonging to nine families were bulldozed following an Appeal Court verdict that they were never told about, even though it ruled against their right to the land.

He said the villagers had filed their own complaint related to the dispute with the court long before and were now seeking the intervention of Adhoc against two businessmen involved.

Former provincial court prosecutor Torn Sihaktechah, who Chhut Chamreun claims signed the order to bulldoze the homes, said they were settling on land that did not belong to them.

To contact the reporter on this story: May Titthara at [email protected]