Crime and law enforcement

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. ...

The National Committee for Road Traffic Safety announced that from Tuesday, traffic police will start intensifying their enforcement of the recently implemented traffic law after a two-month test period showed positive results. ...

A high-speed collision in Preah Sihanouk province involving two container trucks, a beer truck and a van crammed with garment workers resulted in one death and 34 injuries on Tuesday evening, according to police, who reported that three drivers fled the scene and remain at ...

The provincial court in Tbong Khmum province has charged four inmates with selling drugs in Trapaing Phlong prison after police found a bottle of methamphetamine pills hidden in the prison farm. ...

Authorities say they are cracking down on illegal “press” license plates, threatening imprisonment for the offense. ...

The new US ambassador to Cambodia, William A. Heidt, says the US is currently looking at how much it can contribute to the Khmer Rouge tribunal. ...

A Spanish man who is the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of a fellow Spaniard was arrested in Cambodia, where he is believed to have fled after the victim’s dismembered body was recovered piece by piece from Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, police said Monday. ...

The number of workers killed and injured by traffic accidents nearly doubled in 2015, according to a report released by the National Social Security Fund yesterday. ...

Criminal loggers and land snatchers are committing more murders around the world, but they almost always escape justice. ...

The oft-delayed and amended traffic law is scheduled to take effect in mid-March after being postponed since January due to widespread complaints from citizens across the country. Although the law won’t take effect until mid-March, police are still checking vehicle documents, and are looking out ...

True to its New Years resolution to enforce stricter traffic laws, the government pulled over a total of almost 25,000 drivers in the three days after the law came into effect. Though many drivers were sent off with a warning rather than a fine, the ...

Interior Ministry officials on Thursday laid out more details about plans to beef up road safety in anticipation of a new traffic law that comes into effect nationwide today, and conceded that the effort would not be without its challenges. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation stopped issuing new driver’s licences yesterday on the heels of a pledge by Prime Minister Hun Sen to lower their cost. ...

A new traffic law will come into force on January 1 that is hoped to reduce the number of people killed on Cambodia’s roads each year.Road accidents cost the economy an estimated $300 million annually, and the death toll from road accidents keeps rising. According ...

Cambodia’s National Police spokesman, speaking in a recent video, has urged police to stop hiding crimes from the public, lest they encounter unspecified “problems”.In the undated video, which surfaced on Facebook on Saturday, national police spokesman Kirth Chantharith can be seen speaking at a podium ...

A senior official from the Ministry of Interior on Thursday warned all prison chiefs and guards stop to use or not to use all forms of violence illegally on inmates in order to ensure the respect of human rights at prisons. ...

Real estate tycoon Sok Bun, charged with the brutal bashing of a former TV presenter in July, has applied to leave prison for medical treatment, claiming he is suffering from stress and high blood pressure, his lawyer said yesterday. ...

The Interior Ministry on Thursday reassigned the directors of three of the country’s prisons during a ceremony at Phnom Penh City Hall, where it was also announced that the city’s minimum-security PJ Prison would itself be relocated. ...

The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the jail sentences of tycoon Thong Sarath and his parents, all of whom were found guilty of illegal weapons possession by Phnom Penh Municipal court in June. ...