Crime and law enforcement

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. ...

A woman was arrested on Wednesday in Banteay Meanchey province for allegedly smuggling 12 methamphetamine pills into the provincial prison by slashing open green beans and tucking the pills inside, local police said Thursday. ...

A day after making—and quickly retracting—claims to the media that disgraced Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Ang Mealaktei had been arrested, national military police spokesman Kheng Tito said Thursday that his comments had been made in jest. ...

Police in Siem Reap City said Thursday that they arrested six people on Wednesday for questioning over an arson attack on a decorative gateway built for the Angkor Sangkranta festival. ...

At least 16 more families that have been locked in a bitter and lengthy dispute with the municipal government over land in Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood accepted municipal governor Pa Socheatvong’s offer of a land swap Thursday morning. ...

The widow of Ung Meng Chue, a tycoon who was gunned down outside a fruit store in Phnom Penh in November, was questioned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for the first time on Tuesday. ...

Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Om Yentieng on Wednesday denied that ousted Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Ang Mealaktei had been arrested following two days of questioning over serious graft claims, despite two well-placed officials indicating otherwise. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday told provincial governors to take responsibility for curbing forestry crimes in their respective provinces and scolded officials who blame one another when illegal logging is uncovered. ...

Police in Sihanoukville on Tuesday raided the rented house of a Russian businessman who is wanted by local authorities for ordering a violent attack at the Queenco casino in February, but came up empty- handed, an official said. ...

More than 100 slot machines worth over $1 million in total were seized in a police raid on a warehouse in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Monday, an Interior Ministry official said. ...

The Justice Ministry on Monday said it had completed its investigation into bribery allegations against ousted Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Ang Mealaktei but refused to reveal the results. ...

Health Minister Mam Bunheng has been called to appear before the National Assembly’s anticorruption commission, according to a copy of the summons issued by acting National Assembly President Kem Sokha obtained Sunday. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Saturday fined and released 10 workers swept up in a crackdown on illegal sand dredging operations by the Ministry of Mines and Energy last week. ...

Child protection NGO Friends International said this week it will contest being officially cited as the originator of allegations of sexual misconduct at Our Home orphanage that led to the center’s closure last month and to the imprisonment of its director, Hang Vibol, on suspicion ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Court on Friday questioned an Areng Valley villager opposed to a government-backed hydropower dam over allegations of illegal logging but has yet to lay charges. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday delayed the trial of fugitive Defense Ministry official Thong Sarath’s parents, who are facing charges of possessing illegal firearms. ...

Angry locals burned tires on the Chroy Changva peninsula Friday to protest the building of a road through their village, which is at the center of a land dispute with the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC). ...

The chief of police in Preah Sihanouk province has been removed from his position and will be replaced by Chuon Narin, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh municipal force, according to the Interior Ministry. ...

Three owners of sand dredging companies were among 11 people arrested Thursday by military police—working in tandem with the Ministry of Mines and Energy—for operating without a proper license, according to a spokesman for the ministry. ...