Law and judiciary

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.   ...

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 ...

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.   ...

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.” ...

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. ...

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.   ...

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. ...

A two-star general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) will be questioned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court today for allegedly making defamatory remarks about a superior officer’s wife relating to land seizures in Siem Reap province, according to court officials. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit has not yet opened an investigation into Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana’s secretive offshore holdings, but the unit’s chairman said on Thursday that a future probe could not be ruled out. ...

Suth Dina, who rose through the ranks of the Foreign Ministry to become Cambodia’s top diplomat in South Korea in 2014, continued his fall from grace on Thursday as he was imprisoned on charges of corruption and abuse of power, according to his lawyer and ...

Environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported in February last year, has been granted a one-month tourist visa through the Foreign Ministry’s online “e-visa” service, but an immigration official said yesterday that it was unlikely he would be allowed to use it. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen made an appeal to public safety yesterday, announcing $6 million in bonuses for soldiers and law enforcement in anticipation of the Khmer New Year. ...

The parents of Cambodia’s ambassador to South Korea, Suth Dina, yesterday made a public appeal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, as their son, who is accused of corruption, prepared to spend his third night in custody ahead of a likely court appearance this morning.   ...

Following the passage of the controversial trade union law on Monday, international rights groups say they will continue to oppose the legislation, which will now move to the Senate for approval. ...

A new plan to protect the environment started taking shape yesterday when the Environment Ministry held a workshop to discuss ideas on how to convert numerous laws into a single code to govern the county’s natural resources. It is expected the process will take two years ...

Cambodian officials have not informed Russian authorities about the arrest of a wanted embezzler in Sihanoukville last month, despite apprehending him at their request, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. ...

Former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay were released on bail Wednesday, nearly two months after they were arrested for taking part in a demonstration against the company during which protesters were attacked by a mob of angry tuk-tuk drivers. ...

The Ministry of Justice has announced it is unlikely that any Royal pardons granting inmates amnesty or reductions in prison sentences will be given ahead of the Khmer New Year, according to a ministry spokesman yesterday. ...

A relative of Cambodia’s ambassador to South Korea, who was detained on Monday amid a corruption probe, yesterday claimed the envoy was innocent, as the Anti-Corruption Unit reportedly prepared to send the case to court.   ...

The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has defended the controversial new Telecommunications Law following a biting legal analysis by rights group Licadho, which says the legislation is a veiled tool to silence critics and potentially criminalize private expression. ...

Tensions flared between military police, traffic police and local officials on Sunday over the impounding of cars alleged to have violated the Traffic Law.   ...

The government is considering candidates who are eligible for Royal pardons and sentence reductions ahead of Khmer New Year. Nut Savenea, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons, said discussions about pardons are ongoing. ...

The National Assembly yesterday passed a contentious trade union law, just hours after a group of pro-union demonstrators and Daun Penh district security guards clashed violently outside. ...

Laos’ military has begun building a base just meters from an undemarcated stretch of its border with Cambodia, sparking protest from Stung Treng provincial authorities, officials said on Sunday.    ...