Crime and law enforcement

Nine Prey Lang forest activists received suspended one-year prison sentences at Kampong Thom Provincial Court yesterday and were ordered to pay $1,250 to a businesswoman whose hectare of cassava they were accused of uprooting, the defendants’ lawyer said. Yong Panith – who represents Mao Thea, 37; ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned yesterday that people who instigate and commit acts of violence will face the full force of the law. In characteristically cryptic language, he told thousands of students on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich that his government would not tolerate violence. ...

Eight opposition members have been called back to court, facing lingering charges of insurrection and incitement as Cambodia’s dueling political parties continue to fine tune details of an agreement last month. The seven lawmakers and one assistant for the Cambodia National Rescue Party were released on ...

Kandal province’s Tuol Reachea pagoda has been ordered shut for a week after authorities yesterday broke into the living quarters of Thean Vuthy, a man who claims to be the next Buddha, and found jewellery and other “irregular” items. The joint force from the Ministry of ...

The Friday arrest of a local businesswoman who holds the municipal contract to collect parking and stall fees from markets citywide on breach of trust charges came as no surprise to many vendors, aggrieved by what they say are her unfair business practices. Cheav Vibol, deputy ...

Staff from the Ministry of Cults and Religion seized promotional material from a man claiming to be a Buddhist “god” on Sunday in Kandal province, officials said yesterday. The operation was conducted at Reachea pagoda, where Thean Vuthy had been promoting himself as the fifth and ...

About 150 ethnic Kuoy villagers gathered outside Preah Vihear Provincial Court yesterday to protest the questioning of eight villagers and an NGO staff member for allegedly inciting villagers in Tbeng Meanchey district to destroy 36 tonnes of sugarcane. ...

Expatriates working in Cambodia without labour identification cards will face fines and even jail when strict new enforcement kicks in, according to a July 16 joint statement from the ministries of interior and labour. Government inspectors, the statement adds, will begin checking workplaces immediately in order ...

The Kandal Provincial Court on Tuesday tried two opposition CNRP officials and their lawyer—two of them in absentia—over a case dating back to 2011 that was abruptly scheduled a week ago. Chan Cheng, who was elected last year as a CNRP National Assembly member from Kandal ...

A jubilant crowd of opposition supporters burst into cheers yesterday afternoon as seven Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers-elect and one party activist were released on bail just hours after an announced rapprochement between the CNRP and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. They walked free through exits ...

A Cambodian court on Tuesday afternoon released seven opposition party lawmakers-elect and one party activist on bail after the ruling and opposition parties reached a political agreement. “The eight politicians were released from Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison at 4:45 p.m. after questioning judge Keo Mony ...

A newspaper editor and a suspected illegal logger have been arrested over the shooting of a senior forestry official in Mondolkiri province earlier this month, according to police. Pum Poeun, the 48-year-old editor-in-chief of Borei Angkor newspaper, was arrested in Phnom Penh on Sunday. Len Kamry, ...

Forest activists accused of destroying private property told a court hearing in Kampong Thom province yesterday that they were acting to protect mainland Southeast Asia’s largest evergreen forest from illegal logging. ...

Despite multiple requests, the US Embassy has not been given access to visit dual citizen Mu Sochua since her arrest last Tuesday, officials said yesterday. “Consular officers attempted to visit Mu Sochua the evening she was arrested but were not permitted to see her and multiple ...

After more than half a year with only one acid attack recorded in Cambodia, police in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town are at a loss to explain an incident yesterday in which three women were allegedly doused with the chemical while eating noodles at a local ...

When authorities in Kampong Chhnang province on Friday encountered and pursued the boat of alleged illegal fisherman Chieb Ou, they couldn’t have expected to find themselves being chased instead. But that’s precisely what happened when, rather than surrendering, the 42-year-old suspect turned his boat towards the ...

Cambodia’s cybercrime law was leaked earlier this year. Cambodian officials have denied the existence of such a draft law, but local and international rights group have criticized the secret draft process, as well as some stipulations that might affect freedom of speech online. VOA Khmer ...

Thursday while a court summoned its deputy chief for questioning following violent clashes when party supporters tried to force the reopening of Freedom Park in the capital. Elected members of parliament Nut Rumduol and Long Ry were taken into custody by policemen in plain clothes from ...

About 100 CNRP activists and supporters gathered Thursday at Prey Sar prison to put pressure for the release of five opposition lawmakers and another supporter who are under detention. Policemen were seen guarding around the Prey Sar prison to prevent the protesters from approaching the site, ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng ordered cities and provincial authorities to take action to prevent rallies, following a violent clash at the Freedom Park, injuring dozens of security guards and protesters. ...

United Nations rights envoy for Cambodia Surya Subedi on Wednesday urged all sides to immediately exercise utmost calm and restraint in the wake of alarming reports of violence following opposition protests in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. “Democracy depends on respect, not violence,” he said in a ...

A Cambodian court charged six opposition activists on Wednesday with leading an insurrection after clashes with security forces prevented their followers from rallying in a public park, deepening a yearlong political crisis after a disputed election. Lawyers and rights activists said six leading members of the ...

Several security guards have been injured after an opposition-aligned protest turned violent in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. The Phnom Penh Post is reporting that at least eight district security guards have been injured, some severely, and three opposition MPs have been arrested. ...

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) on Tuesday called for the authority to release its three lawmakers arrested in a violent clash at the Freedom Park. The CNRP also expressed its regret over the violent clash between district security forces and protesters who demand ...