Crime and law enforcement

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in Cambodia, destroying not only lives but national morale, dignity, property and development efforts, a road safety expert told the Hello VOA call-in program on Wednesday. ...

Human error is the leading cause of road traffic accidents in Cambodia and young people on motorcycles make up the largest number of deaths on the nation’s roads, where 1,108 fatalities were recorded in the first six months of 2016. ...

Motorists who have not paid their tickets since the new traffic law came into force in January will be sent to court if they do not produce the cash in the next 15 days, according to the National Police.   ...

Research by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF) found helmet use by child motorbike passengers was still low in January despite the government’s much-touted Traffic Law, with observers blaming poor enforcement. ...

An Interior Ministry official who fatally shot a Phnom Penh village chief, his son and grandson during a bloodbath provoked by a petty financial dispute pleaded self-defense during his trial on Wednesday.   ...

Cambodia’s new Traffic Law has been a runaway success for road safety, Interior Minister Sar Kheng claimed yesterday, hours after a collision between two trucks carrying garment workers left two dead and nearly 60 injured.   ...

As yet another deadline passed, right-hand drive vehicle owners will now have until June 12 to register their vehicles with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works or run the risk of being on the wrong side of the law, according to a ministry statement ...

Experts warn that soaring population, vehicle use, condominium construction, minimal enforcement of parking and vehicle tax laws and lackluster public transit options could spell decades of gridlock if action is not taken soon. ...

Cambodia and Vietnam’s security ministries signed a cooperation agreement yesterday to fight crime and strengthen security between the two neighbors. ...

Cambodian’s prison libraries are set to receive an extra $600,000 in funding from the French Agency for Development and literacy NGO Sipar, according to a statement released yesterday. ...

At least 78 trucks carrying mining materials including gravel, sand and soil were stopped on National Road 3 by traffic police on Tuesday in cooperation with Mining Ministry officials. ...

National Police on Sunday said Khmer New Year traffic figures were evidence that the new traffic law has been a success, with 98 traffic accidents reported over the four-day holiday this year, a drop from 123 in 2015, when it was a three-day holiday.   ...

Although 254 people were either killed or injured in traffic accidents across the Kingdom during this year’s Khmer New Year, and the fatality rate rose, the rate of injury over the four-day celebration decreased when compared with the same period last year, according to a ...

The Ministry of Justice has announced that Royal pardons and reductions of prison sentences have been pushed back to Visak Bochea Day in May, as a result of prisons not offering enough information about potential candidates. ...

The Ministry of Justice has announced it is unlikely that any Royal pardons granting inmates amnesty or reductions in prison sentences will be given ahead of the Khmer New Year, according to a ministry spokesman yesterday. ...

Tensions flared between military police, traffic police and local officials on Sunday over the impounding of cars alleged to have violated the Traffic Law.   ...

The government is considering candidates who are eligible for Royal pardons and sentence reductions ahead of Khmer New Year. Nut Savenea, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons, said discussions about pardons are ongoing. ...

Phnom Penh’s police chief on Thursday blasted his subordinates for doing an inadequate job of controlling weapons issued to officers, and announced that police had begun a “weapons census” in an effort to deal with the problem.   ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng announced yesterday that his ministry plans to construct a prison capable of holding 7,000 inmates on an 800 hectare plot of land in Pursat province. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport will allow motorists holding what were formerly permanent driver’s licences to extend them for 10 more years. ...

Though the Kingdom’s total number of reported crimes was down in 2015, instances of robbery and armed robbery in some provinces noticeably increased, according to an annual National Police report. ...

The Health Ministry has yet to respond to a request from the Interior Ministry last week seeking assistance in dealing with drug abuse in the country’s prisons and rehabilitation centers, Interior Ministry secretary of state Nuth Sa An said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Interior on Friday threatened legal action against lawbreaking auto shops that work without a licence or illegally assemble vehicles from scrap parts. ...

After focusing their efforts on educating drivers about the traffic law for the past two and a half months, police will today begin strict enforcement of the new rules, imposing fines and punishments on offending motorists, the National Road Safety Committee announced on Friday. ...