Law and judiciary
Legal and judicial system
Court releases activist, former capitol tours bus driver on bail
Former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay were released on bail Wednesday, nearly two months after they were arrested for taking part in a demonstration against the company during which protesters were attacked by a mob of angry tuk-tuk drivers. ...
Justice minister calls for provincial spokespeople
Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana has called for all provincial court presidents and prosecutors’ offices to appoint spokespeople to answer questions from the public and the media “as soon as possible,” citing rising interest in the judiciary as the reason. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23534/justice-minister-calls-for-provincial-spokespeople/
Magistracy meet calls for order in the court
Judge and prosecutors were called to a two-day workshop to address the sector’s pervasive ethics challenges, but legal experts said change could not occur until there were concrete rules, instead of vague moral guidelines. ...
Mech Dara and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/magistracy-meet-calls-order-court
CNRP ‘insurrection’ appeal hearings begin
Appeal hearings began on Thursday in the case of 11 opposition figures who were convicted in July for insurrection over a 2014 political protest, with a CNRP official blasting the municipal court over double standards for rejecting his request to get medical treatment outside prison. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-insurrection-appeal-hearings-begin-110060/
Final appeal of Boeng Kak activists rejected
The legal battle of 13 land rights activists from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood ended on Wednesday with the Supreme Court upholding their conviction for aggravated obstruction of public officials and illegal occupation. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/final-appeal-of-boeng-kak-activists-rejected-109993/
PM dispatches sons to handle land dispute arrests
Two village representatives in Kampong Speu who were detained for protesting against the actions of their provincial authority were released yesterday by the provincial court after Prime Minister Hun Sen sent two of his sons to help deal with the situation. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22816/pm-dispatches-sons-to-handle-land-dispute-arrests/
Residents seek legislative intervention in land dispute
About 65 villagers from Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Srouch district handed out petitions yesterday urging the National Assembly to push the provincial court into releasing two of their leaders. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22744/residents-seek-legislative-intervention-in-land-dispute/
Court summons businessmen in connection to timber
Although they remain publicly unnamed, nine businessmen in the timber industry were summoned to appear at the Tbong Khmum provincial court today for alleged deforestation crimes and illegal business dealings, according to officials. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22346/court-summons-businessmen-in-connection-to-timber/
Environmental campaigner convicted of forestry crime
A prominent anti-dam activist in Koh Kong province who has been jailed since October was convicted Thursday of illegal logging and given a suspended prison sentence, allowing him to walk free but leaving the shadow of a criminal conviction hanging over him. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/109399-109399/
CNRP senator makes case for bail at supreme court
Opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour, who has been in prison since August on incitement and fraud charges, had his request for bail on health grounds heard by the Supreme Court on Friday. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/109120-109120/
Protesters call for release of imprisoned bus driver, activist
About 500 people gathered outside Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison on Tuesday to demand the release of former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay, who were arrested two weeks ago for participating in a demonstration against the company. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesters-call-for-release-of-imprisoned-bus-driver-activist-108888/
Gov’t names illegal logging profiteers, but courts won’t prosecute
More than a month has passed since National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) named the people it suspects of profiting from the trade in illegal timber, but not a single arrest warrant or court summons has been issued since. As perpetrators continue to go unpunished, the illegal ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21780/gov---t-names-illegal-logging-profiteers--but-courts-won---t-prosecute/
Environmental ctivist tried, but verdict delayed
The Koh Kong provincial court has delayed issuing a verdict for an environmental activist charged with illegal logging. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/environmental-activist-tried-but-verdict-delayed/3194984.html
Former prime minister wins defamation case
A former MEC Co. Ltd shareholder was tried in absentia by the Court of Appeals yesterday morning for allegedly defaming his former company and MEC’s chairman, former Cambodian Prime Minister Ung Huot, in 2014, according to a court official. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21540/former-prime-minister-wins-defamation-case/
Anti-dam activist denies illegal logging charge at trial
On trial at the Koh Kong Provincial Court on Wednesday, anti-dam activist Ven Vorn denied the illegal logging charge laid against him last year over his involvement in the construction of a wooden community center, his lawyer said. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/anti-dam-activist-denies-illegal-logging-charge-at-trial-108652/
Two Cambodian merchants denied bail in Thai court
The two Cambodian merchants arrested at Rong Kluea Market during a Thai Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raid that turned violent earlier this month were denied bail on Friday by the Thai Court of Appeals, according to a statement released by the Cambodian Foreign Affairs ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21374/two-cambodian-merchants-denied-bail-in-thai-court/
Report examines KRT legacy
As parties prepare for Case 002/01 appeal hearings, set to resume on Tuesday, a new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative examines the legacy of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, identifying political interference and insufficient outreach as the court’s primary shortcomings. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/report-examines-krt-legacy
Trear 4 villagers affected by sewage water logging demand for compensation from lake filling company
4 families living in Trear 4 village, Stung Meanchey commune, Mean Chey district, asked the local authority for providing compensation due to lake filling by a private company that caused sewage water and mud logging, also house and other properties damaging. ...
Sereymony
http://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/land/villager-demands-compensate-02072016033412.html
No warrant yet for pedo thought to be in country
Siem Reap police say they are waiting on an arrest warrant from the National Police before taking steps to locate and apprehend convicted Dutch pedophile Pieter Ceulen, who Siem Reap residents placed in town 11 days ago, the very day he was sentenced in Belgium. ...
Mech Dara and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-warrant-yet-pedo-thought-be-country
Illegal logging has become more violent than ever
Criminal loggers and land snatchers are committing more murders around the world, but they almost always escape justice. ...
Rachel Nuwer
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160202-Illegal-loggers-murders-violence-defending-land/
Ministry of Justice to propose official salary increases
The Ministry of Justice will request a salary raise for all of its judges, clerks and prosecutors, and has plans to create mobile court hearings, according to court officials yesterday. They will need the approval of Prime Minister Hun Sen as well as King Norodom ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/20734/ministry-of-justice-to-propose-official-salary-increases/
Police ordered to inspect private ambulance licenses
National Police and National Military Police have been ordered by the Health Ministry to inspect the licenses of all private ambulances, which are often seen fighting for business at the scene of traffic accidents before charging exorbitant prices for their services. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-ordered-to-inspect-private-ambulance-licenses-104535/
Another arrest warrant issued for Sam Rainsy
Another arrest warrant has been issued for opposition leader Sam Rainsy—who is living in France to avoid two years in jail for a defamation conviction—after he failed to turn up for questioning about a separate forgery and incitement case last month. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/104504-104504/
Police accuse firm, Oknha of illegal logging
In a rare move, the National Police on Monday leveled accusations of illegal logging against a number of government-granted economic land concessions (ELCs) in the eastern province of Mondolkiri, singling out a Chinese-owned rubber plantation and wealthy businessman Soeng Sam Ol. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-accuse-firm-oknha-of-illegal-logging-104389/