Crime and law enforcement

Faced with an ongoing rise in drug trafficking and use, especially of methamphetamines, Cambodia and the other five Greater Mekong Subregion countries have joined forces to try and stem the narcotics tide. Cambodia was also among four countries where drug-making laboratories were found, Mr. Douglas ...

Three Cambodian peacekeepers have been confirmed dead in Central African Republic, a day after they went missing following an attack on their convoy by a Christian militant group. The three men, Mao Eng, 37, Seang Norin, 35, and Mom Tola, 31, were shot to death and ...

A Banteay Meanchey woman is planning to file a complaint against the provincial prison director for his alleged role in the suspicious death of her stepdaughter on Saturday. Khon Thy said her stepdaughter, Sok Chanthan, 27, had suffered from chronic asthma since she was 7 years ...

Ground was officially broken yesterday on a new facility at Prey Sar prison that will soon enable the upper crust of the Kingdom’s underworld to buy their way out of overcrowded jails and into the relative luxury of a privately run institution. ...

Cambodians at home and abroad yesterday mourned the passing of peacekeeper Im Sam, who was shot to death during a guerrilla ambush in Central African Republic. He was the Kingdom’s first peacekeeper to ever be killed in combat, officials said. ...

Economic crime police last year helped arrest nearly 70 people in more than 300 cases, mostly involving intellectual property violations, counterfeiting and chemical production. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Police have denied failing to distribute uniforms to thousands of staff, threatening legal action against officers who leaked “fake news” of the claims to the media. ...

More than 50 people died and 200 were injured in 121 traffic accidents during the five days of Khmer New Year. According to an Interior Ministry report, 55 people were killed and 226 were injured, 126 of which were seriously hurt.   ...

The chief of the Banteay Meanchey provincial prison has denied allegations of inmate torture, amid calls from a local rights official for an investigation. Prison director Oung Siphan, through a clarification letter issued on Monday, challenged a foreign radio broadcast that alleged provincial prison officials tortured ...

Kampong Thom’s provincial police chief has been stripped of his rank and moved after officers under his command accused him of demanding money for promotions. ...

A former soldier was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for gunning down Kem Ley as the government critic was sitting down for his morning newspapers at his favorite convenience store cafe in July. ...

Civil servants and factory workers will be required to wear helmets when riding their motorbikes to work under a government plan to stem traffic fatalities. ...

Eurth Ang stood in court yesterday and calmly described how he shot Kem Ley, insisting that it was over an unpaid debt. “I regret and apologize to the victims’ family, but he cheated me which made me angry,” Mr. Ang said. ...

Inmates at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh will no longer be able to listen to the radio, according to a social media post by a jailed opposition member, which is an apparent violation of the law. ...

Cambodia’s already swollen prison population leapt by more than 20 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Interior’s annual report, which acknowledged the influx has caused “serious challenges” with overcrowding, and revealed one-third of inmates are in pre-trial detention. ...

National Police officials have promised tough action against those who sell SIM cards without copying buyers’ national identity cards, saying the practice may have a dangerous impact on society. ...

A lawyer for Eurth Ang, the man accused of murdering political analyst Kem Ley, has asked for his March 1 trial to be delayed because he has not received the case file or spoken to his new client yet. ...

Two human rights activists, who were summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday over allegations that they incited an attack on two Daun Penh district security guards in October, asked the court to have the real perpetrators arrested. ...

The General Commissariat of National Police has announced it will take legal action against police officers found abusing their positions and demanding money from people at illegal checkpoints. ...

Cambodia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to combat crimes including child and sexual trafficking.   ...

More than 20 people were killed and 60 were injured in traffic accidents over the first two days of the Lunar New Year, a nearly 30 percent decline in fatalities compared with the same period last year.According to a National Police report, 38 traffic accidents ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Governor acknowledged that the recently implemented village-commune safety policy has been less than effective after recent crime statistics showed an increase in crime in 2016 compared with the previous year.According to a City Hall meeting held over the past two days, ...

Police tallied only 23 rapes in Phnom Penh last year despite an overall spike of 20 percent in criminal cases, prompting experts to caution that the data posted on the Cambodian National Police website provided only a partial picture of the city’s crimes. ...

Only 600 drivers have been sent to court since the new Traffic Law technically took effect in January and legally in March.According to a National Road Safety Committee report released yesterday, out of almost 10 million vehicles that were checked, 1.5 million were found to ...