Cambodian Activists Ask Michelle Obama for Help

More than 50 activists gathered in front of the U.S embassy in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, March 17 to request the intervention of First Lady Michelle Obama to press Cambodian authorities to release 11 jailed land rights defenders. Photos: RFA/Khmer Service

2015.03.18
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Supporters of jailed Boeung Kak land activists hold photos of the Obama family during a gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2014. Photo: RFA/ Khmer Service

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Supporters of jailed Boeung Kak land activists hold photos of the Obama family during a gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2014. Photo: RFA/ Khmer Service

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Supporters of jailed Boeung Kak land activists hold photos of the Obama family during a gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2014. Photo: RFA/ Khmer Service

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Supporters of jailed Boeung Kak land activists hold photos of the Obama family during a gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2014. Photo: RFA/ Khmer Service

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Supporters of jailed Boeung Kak land activists hold photos of the Obama family during a gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2014. Photo: RFA/ Khmer Service

They want Obama, who is visiting Cambodia on March 20-22 to promote a U.S. initiative to help girls around the world attend and finish school, to put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen to free the activists, who have been jailed for their involvement in protests over land development projects in the Boeung Kak and Borei Keila communities of the Cambodian capital.

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