A prominent opposition commune councilor says she has filed a police complaint against a ruling-party councilor over a dispute involving a constituent’s request for a birth certificate.
The Candlelight Party’s Sin Rozeth, who has not responded to requests for comment, posted a livestream from Battambang’s O’Char commune hall last Wednesday amid a row with ruling-party commune officials.
The commune’s CPP first deputy councilor, Yean Rasy, tries to take her phone and cover Rozeth’s mouth to get her to stop streaming.
O’Char commune chief Em Sophal said the disagreement escalated after Rasy asked a Candlelight Party election observer to be a witness for a resident applying for a birth certificate. They lived in the same village, but they did not know each other.
The next day, Rozeth came in objecting to the request, leading to the clash, he said.
“You know her attitude, if she didn’t show her anger she wouldn’t be able to speak,” Sophal said, denying there was violence. “Don’t make a loud aggressive noise hitting the table like this. It’s shameful.”
However, Rozeth said in a later video that the resident asking for the birth certificate was an old woman known to be mentally unsound, and the commune officials were making a joke against both the woman and the Candlelight election observer.
“I told him this isn’t a joke. You can play with your friends. But he was playing [a joke] on the Candlelight member, especially a joke about people who don’t have a sound mind.”
Rozeth added that she had filed a complaint with judicial police about alleged violence.
O’Char commune police chief Prak Ki said on Monday he hadn’t received Rozeth’s complaint and didn’t know which authority she had filed it to.
