About 100 unionists and Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members are to hold a gathering on Sunday in front of the Canadia Industrial Park on Veng Sreng Boulevard, a year after military officials shot dead five protesters.

Organised by CNRP Phnom Penh capital council member Morn Phalla, attendees will memorialise and pray for those killed during the January 3, 2014, demonstration supporting a nationwide garment worker strike, he said yesterday.

The shootings came amid a crackdown that also saw CNRP supporters forcibly driven from Freedom Park on January 4. “The ceremony will be led by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha with about 100 people,” Phalla said.

Despite a City Hall order that they hold the memorial at a nearby pagoda, the event will be held at Canadia’s front gates from 8am to 11am, Phalla said.

IDEA union president Vorn Pov, arrested a day before the shootings, yesterday said they should hold a vigil every year. “We should do it every year to remember those who sacrificed for workers,” Pov said.