Updated
Clashes between Cambodian police and protesters in Phnom Penh have left dozens of people injured, human rights groups say.
Violence
erupted on Tuesday morning after around 300 demonstrators rallied
outside the capital's Freedom Park, which has been closed since a
crackdown in January.Cambodian opposition supporters tried to reopen the protest site in defiance of a ban on political gatherings.
Khuon Sreng, deputy governor of Phnom Penh, said 37 protesters hurled stones and beat security personnel with seized batons, injuring 37 guards.
"Police then fired several tear gas bombs" to disperse the demonstration, said Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).
Ny Chakrya, lead monitor for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), says more than 10 protesters were injured during the clashes.
Phnom Penh municipality spokesman Long Dimanche said three MPs from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), including party leader Mu Sochua, were taken into police custody after their supporters attacked security guards.
Chad Williams, editor-in-chief of the Phnom Penh Post, said police had also detained a fourth opposition MP, Ho Vann.
After the clashes, CNRP supporters, rights groups and journalists made their way to the police station, where the lawmakers were being held.
Phnom Penh Post reporter Alice Cuddy said about 50 riot police armed with batons and tear gas canisters had been "pushing people away... all afternoon".
"There's a police presence but it doesn't feel violent and everyone is complying with what [police] are asking," she told the ABC.
"I can imagine that if the lawmakers are taken away that could change things, but for the time being it seems like everything is under control."
The Cambodian opposition claims the election in July last year was rigged to allow Prime Minister Hun Sen to stay in power and is calling for him to step down or for a re-run of the vote.
Hun Sen and his government have dismissed accusations of vote rigging.
Over the past year the veteran leader has faced some of the biggest protests ever seen in Cambodia with factory workers from a multi-billion dollar apparel industry linking up with the political opposition to demand better pay.
The human rights group LICADHO has condemned Tuesday's violence.
"LICADHO deplores the use of violence by any party, urges that a full, fair and transparent investigation take place as soon as possible," the group's director, Naly Pilorge, said in a statement.
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