Rough treatment

A group of young men have accused police in Battambang province of beating them to near unconsciousness simply because they were making too much noise late at night in a complaint filed to rights group Licadho yesterday.

Nineteen-year-old Ai Phillip said he and three friends had stopped on their way to the anniversary of a friend’s funeral to urinate in Sangke district’s Anlong Veng commune and shouted out to friends, prompting police to chase them down on motorbikes and assault them.

“They kicked and beat me and my friend Ramoun without asking [us] anything. They didn’t listen to us. They beat me and I could not speak out,” Phillip told the Post.

“They also beat us while they took us to police station and beat us at the questioning and answering room as well,” he said, adding their alleged crime was annoying neighbours.

Battambang central justice office deputy police chief Chet Vanny defended the right of his forces to crack down on any illegal activity.