This afternoon, police in Oddar Meanchey beat a staff member from Equitable Cambodia after they refused to allow officers to search their car without a warrant and gain access to a camera.

Police stopped the car as it was transporting villagers back to their community, following interviews with Equitable Cambodia staff at an office belonging to ADHOC.

Following the illegal search and beating of the staff, police confiscated the car and deleted a number of photos from the camera. The staff from Equitable Cambodia are now in Oddar Meanchey Provincial Police Station negotiating with police but are not currently detained.

The violence comes after Equitable Cambodia staff were detained last month during a visit to Bos village in Oddar Meanchey, to investigate a case where approximately 100 families were affected when their rice fields were destroyed to make way for sugarcane plantations.