Law and judiciary
Leaks detail Cambodian ties to clandestine world of offshore banking
In 2001, a man with the same name and address as Tuol Kork-based computer salesman Thai Tino established the first of several shell companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/leaks-detail-cambodian-ties-clandestine-world-offshore-banking
Labor ministry sues union officials
Labor Ministry officials have filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court accusing four union officials of public defamation, insulting public officers and blocking public roads. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24037/labor-ministry-sues-union-officials/
Big tobacco shaped smoking laws, policies
In 2008, British American Tobacco (BAT) was awarded its third straight “Gold Medal” from Prime Minister Hun Sen in recognition of good corporate stewardship, according to the company’s July newsletter. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/big-tobacco-shaped-smoking-laws-policies-111556/
Crackdown halts illegal timber trade with Vietnam: gov’t
The illegal timber trade to Vietnam, a key nexus in a shadow industry worth billions of dollars, has been all but eliminated, an official said yesterday in summarising a new report from the government’s anti-logging commission, a claim met with disbelief by more than one ...
Mech Dara and Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/crackdown-halts-illegal-timber-trade-vietnam-govt
Montagnard asylum seeker kills himself
A Montagnard asylum seeker was found dead on Wednesday morning in a Phnom Penh residence provided by the U.N.’s refugee agency, having committed suicide in his room, according to police. ...
Kang Sothear and Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111572-111572/
Angkor beer maker called out over Don Sahong dam
Environmental activists yesterday renewed their calls for Angkor Beer maker Cambrew to clarify its director’s relationship with the controversial Don Sahong dam currently under construction in southern Laos. ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/angkor-beer-maker-called-out-over-don-sahong-dam
Patrol thwarts bid to cross Thai border illegally
Police in Koh Kong province reported yesterday that 49 Cambodians were caught trying to cross the Thai border during a forest patrol on Monday in Smach Meanchey district. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/patrol-thwarts-bid-cross-thai-border-illegally
Offshore holdings are up for grabs, justice minister jokes
Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana quipped over the weekend that anyone who can find his offshore financial holdings—revealed earlier this month as part of the “Panama Papers” leak—can keep the money, according to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/offshore-holdings-are-up-for-grabs-justice-minister-jokes-111464/
Gov't thanks Chinese for keeping dam open
Phnom Penh has welcomed a decision by China to continue releasing water into the Mekong from the Jinhong Dam – even though it is likely to do little to alleviate drought conditions. ...
Bun Sengkong and Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-thanks-chinese-keeping-dam-open
Australian police expand Cambodia probe of OZ minerals
Authorities in Australia have expanded the scope of their investigation into bribery allegations involving the relatives of Cambodian government officials and the former Cambodian operations of Australian miner OZ Minerals, the firm has announced. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-police-expand-cambodia-probe-of-oz-minerals-111397/
Case opened into claims of assault by Manet’s guard
Police in Long Beach, California, said on Saturday that they had opened an investigation into the alleged assault of an American man by a bodyguard of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet. ...
Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/case-opened-into-claims-of-assault-by-manets-guard-111394/
New year stats show roads safer, police say
National Police on Sunday said Khmer New Year traffic figures were evidence that the new traffic law has been a success, with 98 traffic accidents reported over the four-day holiday this year, a drop from 123 in 2015, when it was a three-day holiday. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-year-stats-show-roads-safer-police-say-111402/
Traffic deaths rise, injuries fall over new year
Although 254 people were either killed or injured in traffic accidents across the Kingdom during this year’s Khmer New Year, and the fatality rate rose, the rate of injury over the four-day celebration decreased when compared with the same period last year, according to a ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23881/traffic-deaths-rise--injuries-fall-over-new-year/
UN asked to help imprisoned rights activists
Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, the outspoken director of the environmental group Mother Nature, has written to the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to request that he pressure the government to release three Mother Nature activists imprisoned on charges stemming from an anti-sand ...
Kuch Naren and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111370-111370/
US report critical of government’s treatment of opposition
The U.S. State Department’s annual Human Rights Report, released on Wednesday, highlights poor treatment of Cambodia’s political opposition in 2015, and raises concerns about the judiciary’s “broad interpretation” of the crime of incitement. ...
Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/us-report-critical-of-governments-treatment-of-opposition-111340/
Authorities clear furniture from Sihanoukville beach—again
Outdoor tables and chairs belonging to bars and restaurants on Sihanoukville’s Serendipity Beach were removed by local authorities on Tuesday as part of a campaign to beautify the city’s beaches by ridding them of illegal commercial activity, an official said on Wednesday. ...
Peter Ford and Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/authorities-clear-furniture-from-sihanoukville-beach-again-111301/
Police officer sued over alleged threat to shoot journalist
A journalist in Pailin province yesterday filed a lawsuit against a local police officer for allegedly threatening to kill him if he published a story about a drunken shooting spree the officer went on last week. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-officer-sued-over-alleged-threat-111209/
Cambodian opposition lawmaker arrested for border comments
Prominent opposition lawmaker Um Sam An was arrested late Sunday in Siem Reap province for comments he made about the border with Vietnam, a government spokesman said Monday. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-opposition-lawmaker-arrest-border-comments/3280305.html
Court charges five over massive market fire
The Stung Treng Provincial Court on Monday charged a goldsmith, three security guards and the manager of a market in Stung Treng City for negligence that contributed to the outbreak of a fire that gutted the market on Thursday, causing an estimated $1 million in ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-charges-five-over-massive-market-fire-111214/
Government mulls online driver’s license registration
Less than a week after taking over the Transport Ministry, Sun Chanthol has established a committee to move more services online, including the process for applying for driver’s licenses, officials said on Monday. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-mulls-online-drivers-license-registration-111222/
Hun Manet sued in US for torture, terrorism
Imprisoned CNRP official Meach Sovannara has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court against Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, and the Cambodian government, accusing them of “terrorism” and “torture through arbitrary, extra-legal, and long-term detention.” ...
Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-manet-sued-in-us-for-torture-terrorism-111204/
In blow for immunity, lawmaker arrested
Demolishing the constitutional protection forbidding the arrest of lawmakers without National Assembly consent, police apprehended opposition lawmaker Um Sam An early Monday morning in Siem Reap City over his advocacy against Vietnamese border intrusions. ...
Aun Pheap and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-blow-for-immunity-lawmaker-arrested-111206/
Beachfront evictions begin in Sihanoukville
Authorities in Sihanoukville followed through with their long-threatened eviction of vendors from the end of the popular O’Chheuteal beach on Saturday afternoon, demolishing nearly 100 structures along the 2 km strip known locally as Ariston. ...
Peter Ford and Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/beachfront-evictions-begin-in-sihanoukville-111101/
New year pardons delayed to Visak Bochea day
The Ministry of Justice has announced that Royal pardons and reductions of prison sentences have been pushed back to Visak Bochea Day in May, as a result of prisons not offering enough information about potential candidates. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23812/new-year-pardons-delayed-to-visak-bochea-day/