Cambodia’s Supreme Court upholds the 2-year prison sentence of a casino strike leader
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2024 (586 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld the two-year prison sentence of a labor union leader who led a long-running strike against the country’s biggest casino.
Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, had originally been convicted in May 2023 of incitement to commit a felony.
She had been leading a strike that began in December 2021 to protest mass layoffs and alleged union-busting at the NagaWorld casino in the capital, Phnom Penh, and was arrested and charged after a January 2022 demonstration of dismissed employees who were demanding to be rehired,
NagaWorld in late 2021 had fired 373 employees amid financial struggles related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Some dismissed workers continue to hold regular protests, appealing for Chhim Sithar to be released and for them to get their jobs back, Am Sam Ath of the rights groups Licadho said Friday. More than 200 others had accepted compensation under the labor law and dropped their demands, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training announced in December 2022.
Supporters of Chhim Sithar gathered outside the Supreme Court on Friday with banners calling for her release on appeal. The court also upheld the convictions and sentences of eight of her fellow union members. Five received sentences of 1 1/2 years each. Three others had been given suspended sentences of one year each.
Chhim Sithar could be released later this year when her prison term ends due to time already served before her conviction.
NagaWorld is owned by a company controlled by the family of Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong. The company received its casino license in 1994 and the property is now a huge integrated hotel-casino entertainment complex.
Labor union actions had not been rare in Cambodia but usually had taken place at factories in outlying areas or in industrial estates in other provinces. The protest by the NagaWorld workers in the capital was unusually high-profile and drew police action that was sometimes violent.
In February last year, the U.S. Department of State named Chhim Sithar among 10 recipients around the globe of its annual Human Rights Defender Award. She was described by U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy as “a courageous and tenacious labor union leader who peacefully advocates for the rights of Cambodian workers.”