Samrong Tbong community member Kong Tue marches with Boeung Tamok residents to submit a petition to the King on 18 March 2024.

The Phnom Penh Capital Court convicted three Samrong Tbong community members on Tuesday of obstructing authorities who wanted to demolish a small shop outside their house near the Boeung Tamok lake.

Kong Tue, Yorn Kimyoeun and Yorn Sambath were convicted of “obstruction of public officials” with aggravating circumstances under Article 504 of the Criminal Code. They were each sentenced to 6 months in prison and fined $250, with the prison sentences and fines suspended by the court. The three family members’ charges stemmed from an incident on 19 December 2023, in which authorities demanded they take down a grocery stall that they had constructed outside their house. The family refused and officials proceeded to demolish it.

People living around Boeung Tamok in northern Phnom Penh have protested the filling-in of the lake, which has been parcelled off and given to senior members of the ruling party and government institutions over the last half-decade. Residents say their homes have been demolished and they have been prevented from fishing or farming in the lake.

In August 2024, nine members of the same community were convicted and handed suspended prison sentences on similar charges for reinforcing the door of a community member’s house, which authorities claimed violated a construction ban.