Crime and law enforcement

UN special Rapporteur Rhona Smith’s request to meet with jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha in a Tbong Khmum prison was rejected by an investigating judge who cited “important tasks” that needed to be completed before outsiders were allowed such access. ...

Imprisoned former Ambassador Suth Dina appeared in the Supreme Court yesterday to challenge the procedures of the Appeal Court, where he attempted to get his five-year sentence for “abuse of power” and “unlawful exploitation” overturned in August. ...

The Interior Ministry said it will investigate documents and a video from 2013 that resurfaced yesterday showing former opposition leader Sam Rainsy committing to upholding the rights of ethnic minorities in four northeastern Cambodian provinces, with a Justice Ministry spokesman saying it qualified as “treason”. ...

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces chief of joint staff Hun Manet has said he disagrees that Preah Sihanouk province, where Chinese investment in hotels and casinos has skyrocketed, will become a second Macau. Lieutenant General Manet made the comment on Monday during a ground-breaking ceremony for the ...

Jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha may not face trial until after the July elections, after a Phnom Penh Municipal Court decision on Monday to extend his pre-trial detention up to another six months. Meng Sopheary, Sokha’s lawyer, confirmed that Investigating Judge Ky Rithy extended the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on monks to join hands in educating people to respect traffic laws and avoid drug use in order to reduce traffic deaths and drug problems. During a building inauguration at Chey Mongkul pagoda in Kampong Cham province, Mr Hun Sen ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng defended plans to create “pay-to-stay” luxury prisons yesterday, claiming the scheme would also help poorer prisoners by reducing overcrowding. ...

Forestry Administration officials and local police on Wednesday intercepted a load of illegal timber in Kampong Speu, but only managed to seize two of the 10 first-grade logs after villagers began to burn the timber – and attempted to do the same to an FA ...

Cambodia’s prison population swelled to more than 28,000 inmates last year – well over the system’s capacity – with Interior Minister Sar Kheng suggesting yesterday that the construction of more luxurious pay-to-stay prison blocks for wealthy inmates could help alleviate the severe overcrowding. ...

About 300 people from 11 provinces gathered at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet near Wat Botum pagoda yesterday to ask for help in their ongoing dispute with Empire Big Capital Limited, an investment company that cheated thousands of victims out of nearly $60 million. In May ...

Local journalists have launched an online campaign calling on the courts to consider dropping charges against two former Radio Free Asia journalists, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who were arrested by authorities in November. ...

Thai and Cambodian authorities met earlier this week to discuss their extradition agreement and strengthen prisoner exchange – a meeting that came just days after Thailand extradited Cambodian refugee Sam Sokha amid concerns about the fate of more than 100 opposition figures who have fled ...

Two men were arrested and temporarily detained on Monday in Koh Kong province after authorities discovered 34 marijuana plants being grown illegally in the gardens in front of their homes, police said yesterday. ...

Two Mother Nature activists, who were released from prison yesterday, said they had been “robbed” of their freedom for the past five months after being arrested for documenting suspected illegal sand-bearing vessels in Koh Kong without evidence that they had committed a crime.​ ...

The head of the bidding office for Veal Veng district in Pursat province was sent to pre-trial detention yesterday on allegations of falsifying paperwork for locals seeking land ownership documents. Heng Donin, Pursat Provincial Court spokesman, confirmed the detention and said district bidding chief Prak ...

Anti-human trafficking police are seeking the arrest of prominent Cham Muslim community leader and former Social Affairs Ministry official Ahmad Yahya for sending roughly 20 women to Saudi Arabia to work as maids more than a decade ago, after arresting his nephew last week. ...

Former Cambodia National Rescue Party member Ismail Pin Osman was arrested in Phnom Penh on Wednesday for alleged human trafficking, though police officials offered little detail on why he was taken into custody. ...

An investigating judge has rejected Kem Sokha’s request that he interview a representative from the US government in connection with the former opposition leader’s “treason” case, despite the fact that Sokha stands accused of plotting a US-backed overthrow of the Cambodian government. ...

Military police, forestry administration officers and Wildlife Alliance officials on Wednesday raided a house in Pursat province used to facilitate the illegal wildlife trade, seizing nearly 80 kilos of snakes. ...

Senior government figures yesterday noted major flaws in an ongoing drug crackdown, among them a lack of rehabilitation for incarcerated users, during a day-long review of the campaign yesterday. The government also proposed establishing five ill-defined “white villages” – or drug-free locations – on the ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has accused a Kandal province businessman of defamation and operating an illegal digging site, a few weeks after he allegedly shot into the ground to scare off officials trying to inspect his land. ...

Five more suspects have been arrested and are being interrogated by authorities in relation to the murder of three forest patrollers last Tuesday in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, authorities confirmed yesterday. ...

Police in Mondulkiri province yesterday arrested a military officer who is a suspect in a shooting that killed three people during an operation to crack down on illegal logging. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a fiery speech yesterday, threatening to “attack” members of the opposition with Soviet-era rocket launchers, while also claiming he would arrest them anywhere in Asia. ...