Crime and law enforcement

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday convicted a British national of purchasing child prostitution and committing indecent acts against minors, sentencing him to eight years in prison and ordering him to pay a total of $5,000 in fines and compensation. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court again delayed a hearing for 11 opposition activists, shortly after opening one on Monday. But the case still hangs over them, along with charges that Human Rights Watch has called “ridiculous.” ...

Tycoon Thong Sarath has been charged with premeditated murder and possession of weapons by a court in Phnom Penh after being arrested in a joint operation with Cambodian and Vietnamese police on Thursday over the killing of Shimmex Group owner Ung Meng Cheu. ...

The Siem Reap Provincial Court on Saturday charged a Vietnamese man with possessing and transporting illegal drugs after he was arrested on Thursday at the Siem Reap International Airport with 5.25 kg of cocaine hidden inside a musical keyboard, a court official said Sunday. ...

Thirty-seven people died in 112 road accidents during last week’s Khmer New Year holiday, typically the busiest time of year on the country’s roads as people make their way to and from their home provinces to be with family. ...

Police and military officials in Kompong Speu province are searching for a soldier with six wives who shot and killed his sister-in-law and mother-in-law on Saturday morning after berating his second wife for talking to another man the day before, local officials said Sunday. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court today is scheduled to hear the trial of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party activist Meach Sovannara, who was charged with leading a violent “insurrection” after an opposition demonstration turned violent last July. ...

Thong Sarath, a senior Defense Ministry official wanted for the November murder of tycoon Ung Meng Chue, was arrested by Vietnamese police Thursday after months on the run, the head of Cambodia’s Interpol office said on Friday. ...

A police officer was arrested on Tuesday night for firing his state-issued K-59 pistol into the air after getting into a fight at a Khmer New Year party in Phnom Penh, but he was released without charge the same night, police said. ...

The son of a wealthy property developer and police general was arrested Monday evening after attacking another rich, young businessman inside a Phnom Penh tattoo parlor, military police said Tuesday. ...

Anti-Corruption Unit chief Om Yentieng said Monday that he planned to continue questioning ousted Phnom Penh Court director Ang Mealaktei following the Khmer New Year holiday, which begins Tuesday and ends Thursday. ...

Eight men who were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the arson of a decorative gateway built for the Angkor Sankranta New Year festival in Siem Reap City were charged Friday and sent to the provincial prison, officials said Sunday. ...

Six Cambodian military police were placed in pretrial detention Friday, charged by the Prey Veng Provincial Court over a police pursuit in March in which a truck driver and his assistant were allegedly shot at, beaten and hog- tied after blowing through a pair of ...

The Ministry of Labour has given a recruitment firm 45 days to repay clients who filed a complaint alleging the company collected their money but never delivered promised jobs in Japan. ...

Former Meachey district police chief Hy Narin has had corruption charges against him upheld by Phnom Penh Municipal Court after he allegedly misappropriated almost $700,000 from the state budget over eight years. ...

An environmental activist and a fisherman said Sunday that about 70 residents of Koh Kong province had worked together over the past few days to chase away sand-dredging barges they accused of operating illegally around Koh Kapi island and damaging vital fishing grounds. ...

The Mondolkiri Provincial Court on Saturday charged a man with having sex with an underage girl, but a rights worker and the girl’s father said Sunday that the allegations were fabricated in retaliation for the man’s involvement in recent protests against a Vietnamese rubber plantation. ...

Less than a week into the role, Preah Sihanouk’s new police chief, Chuon Narin, has announced the early results of a crackdown on crimes involving foreigners, calling them the “main problem” facing the coastal city.  ...

Officials charged with protecting Cambodia’s Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary are colluding with loggers responsible for felling at least 300 trees each day, according to activists in the area. ...

A month after Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive ordering government bodies to put a halt on new hires—except to fill vacated positions—the Ministry of Public Function has authorized state institutions to hire 5,001 civil servants to replace those who had recently retired, quit ...

The Our Home center in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district has reopened under interim management after its director, Hang Vibol, was jailed last month and charged with abusing boys at the organization’s orphanage, which housed more than 50 children but was shuttered and will remain closed. ...

Police in Preah Sihanouk province yesterday arrested a British national in a guesthouse for alleged drug possession. ...

The body of what villagers had suspected was a Montagnard asylum seeker, found partially buried in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district earlier this week, was determined to be the remains of a local teenager who had drowned in a river, a villager said Thursday. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will roll out a new Agricultural Extension Policy that will look to boost the sector by making new knowledge and technology easily accessible to farmers and communities, in a bid to increase efficiency and productivity in the sector. ...