Crime and law enforcement

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 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. ...

The justice minister on Wednesday wrote to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court requesting that the judge in charge of a case surrounding a long-running land dispute report to the ministry, following intervention from the National Assembly’s human rights commission. ...

The Geneva-based Human Rights Committee (HRC) called on Cambodia Thursday to step up efforts to curb impunity and fully investigate incidents where excessive force was used against civilians. ...

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has denied bail to Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko, who was arrested at his family’s restaurant in Sihanoukville last week and jailed on a trio of fraud charges related to a dispute with fugitive developer Sergei Polonsky, the investigating judge said ...

Four Chinese tourists were sent to the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court on Tuesday after being arrested in Sihanoukville on Monday in possession of nearly $500 worth of counterfeit dollar bills, local authorities said. ...

A judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court suspended the trial of an opposition activist Monday after the defendant demanded that his alleged victims face him in court and declared that his trial was a politicized sham. ...

Kem Sokha, the vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, has been summoned to appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court a week after being threatened with a lawsuit by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...