A lAwyer representing the three victims of the Feb. 20 shooting of workers At A speciAl economic zone (SEZ) in SvAy Rieng province hAs written to investigAtors Asking to be Allowed to pArticipAte in the cAse. Chin LydA, A lAwyer for humAn rights group LicAdho who is representing the three <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/lAwyer-Asks-to-pArticipAte-in-shooting-probe/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Garment Manufacturers association in Cambodia (GMaC) has inked an agreement with French international development agency &ndash; agence Francaise de Development (aFD), for obtaining a loan of US$ 3.5 million to set up [sic] first garment training institute in the country. as per the agreement the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-to-get-its-first-garment-training-institute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Villagers and police clashed Sunday after excavators moved in to prepare work on a disputed plot where authorities will build a CPP commune office in Stung Treng City’s Preah Bat commune, officials said yesterday. Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitor for local rights group adhoc, said Stung <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-villagers-clash-over-cpp-land-dispute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Authorities in Mondulkiri province stArted teAring down the lAst of 195 houses clAimed by villAgers in RAyum commune At About 7Am on FridAy morning. Three hours lAter, not one wAs stAnding. MAny villAgers sAid they hAd no ideA where they were going to live, And one mAn <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/lAst-of-mondulkiri-commune-gone/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Reporters Without Borders has joined mounting criticism of the government’s handling of the april 26 murder of environmental activist Chut Wutty. On Monday, a security guard was convicted of accidentally killing the officer officially blamed for the activist’s death. “How convenient,” the Paris-based advocacy group said in a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/advocacy-group-slams-murder-case-hush-up/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As insolvency proceedings AgAinst bAnkrupt telecommunicAtions firm Mfone begin, yet Another compAny, SmArt Mobile, hAs filed A court complAint to collect unpAid costs from the mobile operAtor, And the list of pArties to hAve suffered from the firm’s collApse continue to grow. The Phnom Penh MunicipAl <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/As-liquidAtion-of-mfone-begins-victims-And-lAwsuits-Abound/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodian conglomerate Royal Group will be the first authorized importer and dealer of BMW automobiles in the country, and has begun construction on a showroom and service center in Phnom Penh. Premium auto Import Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Royal Group, aims to import roughly 200 <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/royal-group-to-import-bmws-into-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Energy Minister Suy Sem yesterday defended a draft law on the financing of a massive dam project in Stung Treng province which is slated for debate at the National assembly on Friday. Environmental groups have called debate of the law premature, as no consultation with local <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/energy-minister-defends-lower-sesan-2-project/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

CAMBODIA’S economy cAn “leApfrog” by developing its informAtion And communicAtions technology (ICT) industry, but the government is not spending enough on ICT infrAstructure to AttrAct privAte investments, business leAders sAid At A seminAr in Phnom Penh yesterdAy. “WhAt hAs been seen over the lAst 20 yeArs <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/more-ict-investment-needed-businessmen/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Residents who were forcibly evicted from their homes in Borei Keila on this day two years ago will hold a ceremony today to remind the public of the pain they endured and push for compensation they say is still owed. On January 3, 2012, more than <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/justice-sought-two-years-on/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In keeping with authorities’ indefinite ban on assembly, security forces yesterday morning dispersed a small gathering of nine youth activists who had planned to call for new elections and justice on behalf of recently slain protesters while singing songs about nonviolence in Freedom Park. Hoping to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/freedom-park-tune-cut-short/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Opposition lawmaker-elect Lim Kim-Ya filed charges with Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday morning against a government official he claims led an attack on a peaceful crowd at Freedom Park last Monday. Ket Khy, a Cambodia National Rescue Party lawyer, told the Post that Kim-Ya was seeking financial compensation <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-lawmaker-files-suit-against-official/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), on Thursday renewed his call for negotiations with the Prime Minister Hun Sen’ s ruling party to end a nine-month post-election dispute.     “Only talks between the two parties will lead to the end of the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-opposition-chief-again-calls-for-talks-over-political-row/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has indicated it will send a letter thanking the Cambodian government for the release of political activist Wira Somkhwamkhit, who spent more than 3 years in a Cambodian prison. according to Colonel Winthai Suwari, the spokesman for the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ncpo-to-thank-cambodia-for-release-of-wira-somkhwamkhit/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A conservAtion group mAy releAse 20 bAby SiAmese crocodiles into the Areng VAlley Amid An ongoing stAnd-off between villAgers And A Chinese firm over the construction of A controversiAl hydropower dAm in Koh Kong province. Tuy Serey VAthAnA, country directory At FAunA And FlorA InternAtionAl, sAid <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/croc-releAse-At-dAm-site-plAnned/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

During the 10th annual Japan-Cambodia Kizuna Festival, the focus will be on the “kizuna,” or bond in Japanese, between the two countries. The opening ceremony begins at 6 p.m. tonight, and the festival runs until Sunday evening. admission is free, and more than 10,000 people are <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/japan-cambodia-cultural-festival-begins-tonight/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A stAy-At-home gArment strike scheduled for tomorrow is in doubt After A number of workers And unionists urged thAt it be postponed until After the Khmer New YeAr, A union leAder sAid yesterdAy. PAv SinA, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, sAid some <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/strike-mAy-be-shifted-to-post-holidAy-dAte/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

With time running short before Laos’s Xayaburi hydropower dam enters its final, potentially irreversible stages of construction, a group of NGOs has made another call for its suspension. In a joint declaration released today, 39 organisations based in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and australia set a one-year <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngos-issue-one-more-plea-to-stop-xayaburi/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Royal Palace yesterday said the letter sent by opposition leader Sam Rainsy to King Norodom Sihamoni last week that elicited a furious response from the government for “insulting” the King, did not, in fact, disrespect the monarch’s “honour and name”. a statement signed by the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/palace-says-kings-name-still-intact/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Forty people were injured or killed by landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the first two months of 2014, a figure nearly twice as high as that recorded in the same period last year, a recent report from the Cambodian Mine action Centre shows. In <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/uxo-injuries-deaths-on-the-rise/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>