Provincial and local governments

More than 200 families in Stung Treng province filed a petition yesterday calling for their local police chief’s dismissal, accusing him of working against their interests and committing environmental crimes. ...

Police in Preah Vihear yesterday burned nearly 1,600 homemade rifles confiscated from villagers around the province.Preah Vihear provincial authorities said that officers collected the 1,574 DIY illegal weapons from “everywhere” across the province. ...

More than 800 indigenous people in Mondulkiri province are seeking to oust the provincial governor, who is accused of violating the rights of the ethnic minority. ...

A top mining official on Wednesday urged the government of northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province to crack down on a group of Vietnamese running an illegal gold mining operation villagers and rights groups say is being protected by local authorities. ...

Phnom Penh is studying the prospect of a toll highway to run from the capital to Phnom Penh International Airport, a dangerous stretch of road that kills many people each year. ...

Hundreds of indigenous peoples in Mondulkiri are planning to lodge a complaint with the National Assembly and relevant ministries to demand the ouster of the provincial governor after authorities yesterday pre-emptively shut down celebrations in honour of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. ...

Seemingly ending his ambitions for the province’s top job, Sihanoukville’s city governor will next week be out of provincial politics altogether, amid criticisms of his performance by Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng. ...

A soldier and two civilians were charged on Wednesday with illegally clearing forest land by the Kompong Thom Provincial Court, while a second soldier who allegedly guarded the illicit operation has been charged with illegal weapons possession, a court official said Thursday. ...

A street seller who beat a Thai tourist to death with a pole outside a restaurant in Koh Kong province’s Khemara Phoumint City on Tuesday night was charged with murder by the provincial court on Wednesday, officials said Thursday. ...

Borith has been on the payroll of Cambodia’s parliament for 15 years but rarely shows up for work. He is busy with his other job at a non-governmental organization, and no one notices his absence. ...

The head of customs at the Poipet International Checkpoint, the site of numerous recent protests by handcart-pullers complaining of arbitrary fees for transporting goods across the border, will be replaced Wednesday, according to the Banteay Meanchey provincial customs chief. ...

A district police chief in Kompong Chhnang province was on Tuesday questioned over accusations that he raped a high-school student in his office earlier this month and threatened to kill the woman’s family if she told anyone about the assault. ...

Two days after a platoon leader in Mondolkiri accused soldiers from Kratie of pointing their weapons at his men in order to free a group of suspected illegal loggers from Vietnam, two of the military’s most senior officials on Thursday said they were unaware of ...

A Council of Ministers official was arrested in Phnom Penh on Wednesday after he showed up at his daughter’s high school and slapped her classmate following a fight between the two teenagers, police and witnesses said Thursday. ...

Nine union officials arrested during a protest outside an electronics factory in Takeo province Tuesday afternoon were released that night after being “educated” and agreeing to obey the law, police said. ...

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldiers from Kratie province surrounded a platoon from Mondolkiri on Tuesday night in order to free a group of Vietnamese men who had been detained on suspicion of illegal logging, a military official said Wednesday. ...

The head of the Interior Ministry’s immigration department called on provincial governors and police chiefs on Wednesday to help rein in illegal immigration as the number of Vietnamese migrants doubled over a five-year period. ...

A Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier arrested last week by Thai authorities over a hit-and-run that killed a man was released from custody on Sunday after compensating the victims and paying money to the court to the tune of $60,000, according to a post on ...

The bus company involved in a road accident last month that killed 19 people in Svay Rieng province has requested that the provincial court delay negotiations for compensation to the victims, a court official said Tuesday. ...

Police in Sihanoukville on Monday arrested Russian national Roman Dragomir, 39, for his alleged involvement in a violent brawl between two groups of foreigners at the Queenco Hotel & Casino in February, an official said. ...

Police in Phnom Penh made the country’s largest ever methamphetamine seizure late last week after arresting three members of a trafficking ring who were found with nearly 55 kg of drugs worth about $3 million, most of which was destined for Taiwan, an official said ...

A Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier was arrested by Thai authorities Wednesday on suspicion of a hit-and-run that killed a man across the border and was being detained Friday at a courthouse in Thailand’s Chonburi province, officials said. ...

A police search of three buses that were smuggling goods from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh has turned up more than 14 tons of clothes, paint thinner and other materials, officials said Tuesday. ...

Seven more people believed to be involved in a large-scale Ponzi scheme have been arrested and were questioned by a prosecutor in Takeo province Sunday, bringing to 14 the total number of suspects apprehended in connection with the racket. ...