Legal and judicial system

Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy has been summoned from exile to answer a charge of “treason” over an alleged agreement he made with a pro-Montagnard activist. Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Sieng Sok issued a letter on Thursday to summon Rainsy as a “suspect” ...

Two opposition lawmakers beaten up outside the National Assembly in 2015 will have their appeal heard this Friday – nearly two years after the three Bodyguard Unit members responsible for the attack were given mostly suspended sentences by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. ...

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. ...

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 ...

Residents of the Boeung Kak community yesterday submitted a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet, asking the premier to seek a royal pardon to release their jailed representative Tep Vanny, and also solve their outstanding land dispute. According to the petition by eight Boeung Kak ...

The Ministry of Cults and Religion has said it will consider lodging a complaint against activist monk But Buntenh following his remarks that Cambodians, including the King, drink contaminated water. Cambodian Youth Party President Pich Sros, who initially had said he was thinking about lodging ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday ordered a freeze placed on the former headquarters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party in Phnom Penh, warning that the property may be sold to pay fines and compensation incurred by its owner, former party President Sam Rainsy, in ...

A group of 35 international labour and human rights advocacy groups yesterday called for charges against a trio of Cambodian civil society activists to be dropped. “We, the undersigned global unions and international human rights and workers’ rights organizations, call for the charges against Cambodian human ...

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. ...

A representative of villagers in a land dispute in Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district was arrested on Wednesday for alleged property damage. Sat Bora, 34, has been representing 122 families in Anlong Veng commune, who have been locked in a land dispute with authorities for ...

Six officials have filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court asking for their Funcinpec membership to be reinstated after they were removed from the party by its leader, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, at the end of last month. ...

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 ...

Two activists who were convicted of incitement to commit a felony and violation of privacy by Koh Kong Provincial Court may be released today following the completion of their five-month prison terms. The two environmental activists, Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy, are being detained in Prek ...

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. ...

The Australian Parliament is considering a motion to condemn Cambodia’s political crackdown, with lawmaker Mark Butler declaring Australia has “a solemn duty” to take action to defend Cambodia’s “fledgling democracy”.​ ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 30-month sentence for land activist Tep Vanny on charges relating to a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house that turned violent, leaving the Boeung Kak resident to serve out more than a year of her remaining ...

Cambodian People’s Party spokesman Chhim Phal Virun was questioned Tuesday morning as a witness in the “treason” charges brought against former opposition leader Kem Sokha, his former colleague at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR). ...

Former opposition leader Kem Sokha was denied bail this morning by the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, his lawyer Choung Choungy has confirmed. The hearing was held under a tight security presence, with Sokha brought in by police convoy before dawn. Human rights monitors and ...

Local officials who were sent to interview Cambodians facing deportation from the US allegedly attempted to extort bribes from the detainees and their families, according to documents filed in a California court. ...

Two activists from the conservation group Mother Nature were tried yesterday in Koh Kong for photographing a vessel at sea, with their lawyer asking the court to dismiss the charges due to a lack of evidence that they had committed any crime. ...

Former Funcinpec official and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Lu Lay Sreng was found guilty in absentia of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen today for comments made in a private phone conversation that was secretly recorded and disseminated without his knowledge. ...

Social media celebrity and card-carrying CPP member Thy Sovantha yesterday said she will file a lawsuit against wildlife NGO head Suwanna Gauntlett alleging discrimination after the latter allegedly denied her access to an ecotourism program the group is launching today in Koh Kong province.​ ...

Court cases and investigations involving former Cambodia National Rescue Party officials are continuing apace, with new charges laid against opposition leader Sam Rainsy, another appeal for bail filed on behalf of jailed party leader Kem Sokha and a National Police spokesman saying yesterday that the ...

Three prominent civil society members have been charged with “breach of trust” for allegedly misappropriating funds raised for slain political activist Kem Ley’s funeral, despite the fact that nobody in Ley’s family filed a complaint.​ ...