Law and judiciary

Officials at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison have ignored a Supreme Court order permitting the bail of activist Ly Seav Minh, whose family is embroiled in a long-running land dispute with a politically connected company, her lawyer said yesterday. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning denied a bail request from former municipal penal police officer Hang Vuthy and in the afternoon retried him over his role in a 2003 conspiracy to murder national military police commander Sao Sokha. ...

Two more people have tested positive for HIV in Battambang province’s Roka commune this month, bringing the total number infected to 272 since an outbreak of the virus was first detected in December, a health official said Wednesday. ...

The son of a wealthy developer who was charged last week with assaulting the son of timber magnate Try Pheap in Phnom Penh was transferred on Tuesday from the minimum-security PJ prison to the maximum-security Prey Sar, officials said Wednesday. ...

Police in Svay Rieng province said Wednesday that they had yet to identify any suspects in the armed robbery of a mobile-payment kiosk and currency exchange business in Romeas Hek district that left one man dead. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday heard the retrial of Hang Vuthy – former right-hand man of disgraced ex-municipal police chief Heng Pov – in the case of the 2003 attempted murder of National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha. ...

Officials in a northeast Cambodian province on Wednesday rescued a family accused of being sorcerers by villagers who sought to take revenge on the father they blamed killing 10 people, local authorities said. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court will on Wednesday resume questioning Major General Thong Sarath, who stands accused of orchestrating the murder of tycoon Ung Meng Chue and was apprehended last week after more than four months on the run. ...

Authorities in Preah Sihanouk province yesterday said they arrested two foreign nationals for overstaying their visas, at least one of whose visa, they said, is two years out of date. ...

Members of a forest community and local officials in Preah Vihear province have renewed a legal battle over a small patch of woodland in Rovieng district after the villagers last year accused the officials and a landowner of illegally profiting from the protected area. ...

Although the long-awaited Land Traffic Law was passed by the National Assembly in December, a police official said Tuesday that the government would not begin enforcing it for another five or six months. The law is set to bring tougher penalties for many traffic offenses—including drunk ...

The governor of Preah Sihanouk province said Tuesday that he will delay the removal of 32 food vendors from O’Chheuteal Beach after reading—on Facebook—a letter purportedly issued to him by the National Assembly’s human rights commission asking him to hold off. ...

After three children drowned in hotel swimming pools in the past week, the tourism minister said Tuesday that he would ask police to investigate the two hotels where the accidents occurred to decide whether they should be held liable. Thong Khon, the minister, said the letter ...

Ostap Doroshenko, the son of jailed Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko, has spoken out on his father’s recent detainment, blaming it on a plot orchestrated by a predictable family foe. ...

Police in Kompong Speu province on Monday began patrolling the base of Thmar Poun mountain while a small military detachment started searching its densely forested slopes for an armed soldier who allegedly shot dead the sister and mother of one of his six wives on ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday convicted a British national of purchasing child prostitution and committing indecent acts against minors, sentencing him to eight years in prison and ordering him to pay a total of $5,000 in fines and compensation. ...

A controversial statement released by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday calls for the quick passage of a trade union law, which union advocates say violates international labour conventions. The statement, which was signed on April 10 but distributed this week, was released ahead of International ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court again delayed a hearing for 11 opposition activists, shortly after opening one on Monday. But the case still hangs over them, along with charges that Human Rights Watch has called “ridiculous.” ...

Villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district last week seized several logs of illegal timber, ending what they said had been a lull in illegal logging since the arrests of two officials accused of colluding with loggers. ...

Tycoon Thong Sarath has been charged with premeditated murder and possession of weapons by a court in Phnom Penh after being arrested in a joint operation with Cambodian and Vietnamese police on Thursday over the killing of Shimmex Group owner Ung Meng Cheu. ...

The Siem Reap Provincial Court on Saturday charged a Vietnamese man with possessing and transporting illegal drugs after he was arrested on Thursday at the Siem Reap International Airport with 5.25 kg of cocaine hidden inside a musical keyboard, a court official said Sunday. ...

Thirty-seven people died in 112 road accidents during last week’s Khmer New Year holiday, typically the busiest time of year on the country’s roads as people make their way to and from their home provinces to be with family. ...

Police and military officials in Kompong Speu province are searching for a soldier with six wives who shot and killed his sister-in-law and mother-in-law on Saturday morning after berating his second wife for talking to another man the day before, local officials said Sunday. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court today is scheduled to hear the trial of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party activist Meach Sovannara, who was charged with leading a violent “insurrection” after an opposition demonstration turned violent last July. ...