The whereabouts of 23 people arrested last week during a crackdown on demonstrations in Por Sen Chey district remained unknown yesterday, with prison officials and police refusing to divulge the information to family members and rights groups.

After contacting 18 prisons, the staff at all of which said the prisoners were not in their facilities, rights group Licadho has narrowed down their current location to three prisons, Naly Pilorge, the NGO’s director, said.

Citing “credible information”, Pilorge said the defendants are likely in Correctional Centre 1 in Phnom Penh, Correctional Centre 3 in Kampong Cham or Correctional Centre 4 in Pursat.

Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labour program, said on Monday that the director of CC3 confirmed to an associate that the 23 prisoners were there.

But when asked about the prisoners’ whereabouts yesterday, CC3 chief Chea Vanna would only refer a Post reporter to Kouy Bunson, director of the General Department of Prisons.

Bunson could not be reached.