Legal and judicial system

Villagers accused of incitement in a long-running land dispute with a company owned by the wife of a government minister did not show up for scheduled questioning yesterday at the Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court, officials said. On September 17, KDC Development company, owned by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, ...

When the international community hammered out a hard-fought deal with the government in 2001 for a war crimes tribunal to try the most senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, they hoped their efforts would also set an example for local court system riddled with ...

An outstanding court warrant for Phnom Penh International University rector Tep Kolap was dropped after the intervention of the premier and his wife, according to Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth. Declining to comment on the extent of the premier’s intervention, deputy commander of ...

In a move that stunned his supporters and drew ire from rights groups and foreign embassies alike, independent radio station owner Mam Sonando was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday on charges of insurrection. Sonando, owner of broadcaster Beehive Radio and president of the rights ...

Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday summonsed three well-known rights workers and a journalist to appear for questioning next week over years-old incitement charges in connection with a long-standing land dispute. In a summons signed by deputy provincial prosecutor Chea Sopheak, the court ordered Radio Free Asia journalist Sok Ratha, ...

The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday summoned three human rights workers and a journalist over allegations that hey incited indigenous ethnic minority villagers in Lumphat district to protest violently against a powerful agro-industry company in 2009. Deputy court prosecutor Chea Sopheak said he had requested Adhoc provincial ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed down a 20-year jail sentence to independent radio station owner Mam Sonando yesterday for his role in fomenting an alleged secessionist movement in a decision drawing condemnation from human rights groups and some of Cambodia’s main foreign donors. The court ...

A Cambodian court has jailed a 71-year-old broadcaster and land rights campaigner for 20 years after finding him guilty of leading an anti-state rebellion, a verdict condemned by activists as the latest crackdown on human rights. Three judges at the Phnom Penh court convicted Sonando, who ...

Three Thai convicted of imprisoning three other Thai and two Chinese nationals over debts owed to a Poipet City casino asked the Appeal Court yesterday to reduce their 25-year prison sentences. The defendants-Chelao Keutthang,42; Chanadet Chareunsuk, 28; and Narungvit Cheuman, 28-were arrested in November 2009 when Banteay ...

Residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak and Borei Keila neighborhoods yesterday sprinkled a concoction of chili, salt and black rice into flames of a small fire in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to “curse” the court officials they accuse of unjustly charging and ...

The Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court has summoned four villagers embroiled in a long-running land dispute over charges of alleged incitement  and violence involving a company owned by the wife of government minister, a court official said yesterday. Two summoned vllagers, from Kompong Tralach district’s Ta Ches commune, faced similar ...

The Kandal Provincial Court on Friday tried a former provincial judge, Huoth Heang, and his clerk, Lim Kompheak, both of whom stand accused of corruption. On January 20, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) officials arrested Judge Heang during a sting operation in which the judge was caught accepting a ...

The man accused of shooting the man who shot environmental activist Chut Wutty last April had been summoned to the Koh Kong Provincial Court to stand trial next month on charges of unintentional homicide, a court official said yesterday. According to deputy prosecutor Srey Mak Ny, ...

A journalist murdered in Ratanakkiri last week took a call from his accused killer on the night of his disappearance, his family has claimed in a complaint to the rights group Adhoc. Ken Sovann, 63, the mother of slain journalist Hang Serei Oudom, whose body was found in his car in O’Chum district ...

The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal yesterday postponed the final hearing of disgraced anti-drug czar Moek Dara, Chea Leng and Morn Doeun until next month, citing a need for more time in light of last-minute investigations by the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court, a court official ...

A Ratanakkiri provincial court has charged a married couple with premeditated murder in the grisly killing of Vorakchun Khmer newspaper reporter Hang Serei Oudom, whose body was found axed to death in the back of a car last week. The suspects, An Bunheng and his wife, ...

The long-awaited trial of former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith – accused of shooting three garment workers at a protest in February – could begin within the next week, a Svay Rieng Provincial Court official said yesterday. Investigating judge Pich Chhert said the inquiry into the ...

The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday charged a military police captain and his wife with the murder of journalist Hang Serei Odom, officials said. Hang Serei Odom, who worked for the Virakchun Khmer Daily newspaper, was found dead in the trunk of his car on Tuesday. He ...

On the fourth and final day of his trial for alleged involvement in a secessionist movement, independent radio station owner Mam Sonando told the court on Friday that he had returned to Cambodia from the U.S. to stand the trial because he was innocent. Mr. Sonando, ...

Independent radio station owner Mam Sonando mounted a spirited defense during the third and last day of testimony at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday in his trial for allegedly leading a secessionist group. At time raising his voice, waving his arms and grabbing his head ...

At his appeal hearing yesterday, former anti-drug police chief Moek Dara railed against what he said was injustice of his incarceration for a slew of drug-related crimes, for which he continues to deny his guilt. Mr. Dara, former chief of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, ...

The trial of independent radio owner Mam Sonando continued for a second day at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, though most of the testimony centered around the fellow alleged secession leader Bun Ratha, who remains at large. Along with eight others, Mr. Sonando and Mr. Ratha stand ...

Independent radio station owner Mam Sonando declared his innocence yesterday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court where his trial began over his alleged involvement in a secessionist movement in Kratie province. Commenting on organization he founded, the Association of Democrats, Mr. Sonando told the court it was ...

Throngs of protesters gathered at the Olympic Stadium yesterday, at times straining against a mix of police force barriers and riot shields in their effort to show support for jailed Beehive Radio director Mam Sonando, whose trial was beginning just down the street at Phnom ...