Phnom Penh (FN), May 9 – A senior official of the immigration police told the press earlier that the two foreigners wearing black clothes and arrested this morning in front of Dangkor district police office when participating in a protest have been now release.

Maj. Gen. Ouk Hay Seyla, Director of Investigation and Procedure Implementation, General Department of Immigration, told the press in the afternoon of May 9, that the two foreigners are identified as Anna, female, a volunteer with local human rights organization Licadho, and Machias, male, an adviser to the same organization. The two have proper passports but have not yet acquired working permits. Anyway, the police Gen. said the two were released after a series of questioning and instructions.

Am Sam Ath, Technical Manager of Investigation of Licadho, said the two are legal advisers to Licadho and have signed employment contracts with Licadho for one year. The man is a German national while the woman is Swedish.

In the CSO campaign to demand the release of jailed civil society officials, police arrested the two at around 11:00 a.m. and six other Cambodian participants, three of whom are NGO officials and the rest are land activists.