Law and judiciary

In a decision roundly criticised by rights observers, the Appeal Court yesterday upheld a two-and-a-half-year sentence for Boeung Kak activist Tep Vanny for her alleged involvement in a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s residence in Phnom Penh that turned violent. ...

A Phnom Penh police unit responsible for intervening during protests and demonstrations publicized a training exercise featuring the use of live rounds on Monday, in what one opposition lawmaker labeled an intimidation tactic. ...

Oil giant Chevron has been ordered by a U.S. district court judge to turn over a wide range of documents and information it may possess relating to the murder of political analyst Kem Ley at a Phnom Penh Caltex gas station in July last year. ...

Political fixture and former Co-Defence Minister Nhek Bun Chhay was officially charged yesterday with conspiracy to produce drugs and importing drug components after being linked to a decade-old bust by one of the men convicted in the original case. ...

The National Election Committee has said current laws forbid out-of-country registration and voting, following a meeting yesterday to discuss involving migrant workers in next year’s national election. ...

National police officials yesterday said that all vehicle owners will soon be required to purchase insurance for their vehicles. ...

National Election Committee (NEC) Chairman Sik Bun Hok yesterday attempted to quell criticism of the electoral body for failing to register migrant voters, insisting that the law did not empower the body to allow overseas voting or registration, and instead passing the buck to political ...

Khmer National United Party (KNUP) leader and former General Nhek Bun Chhay was arrested in Phnom Penh yesterday in relation to a 2007 drug bust in Kampong Speu province – a dramatic acceleration in a fall from grace that began with an alleged flirtation with ...

The Government of Japan has recently disbursed an amount of US$1,221,818 as its 2017 Fiscal Year contribution to the United Nations component of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). ...

About 200 Chinese people were arrested yesterday in two Poipet guesthouses in a bust on a scam operation that targeted civil servants in China with blackmail, according to police. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen made an appeal to Facebook users to “not create problems” as nationwide child-snatching hysteria led to another arrest on Tuesday, this of a man whom Takeo provincial police had earlier questioned for allegedly posting that Vietnamese men were attempting to kidnap ...

A teacher and opposition activist who made spurious claims on Facebook that two Vietnamese men had kidnapped children and cut out their kidneys and eyes is now facing up to two years in prison after he was arrested on Saturday and charged with spreading false ...

Police are searching for four suspects believed to have carried weapons illegally across the Thai border in a case in which three Cambodians and six Thais were arrested last month for alleged weapons trafficking, a Banteay Meanchey police official said on Monday. ...

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have been committed to enhance their cooperation in combating counterfeit banknotes. The commitment was made at a symposium held in Hanoi, Vietnam last Friday attended by relevant officials from the three neighbouring countries, according to the National Bank of Cambodia’s news ...

The Justice Minister has urged court officials to work independently, responsibly and ethically to strengthen the judicial system and improve public trust of the judiciary. ...

The Interior Ministry plans to monitor the Facebook page of former opposition president Sam Rainsy for violations of newly passed amendments to the Law on Political Parties, which will also force the CNRP to spend upwards of half a million dollars to erase his image ...

Senate President Say Chhum signed controversial amendments to the Law on Political Parties on Friday, effectively preventing former CNRP President Sam Rainsy from supporting his former party from overseas. ...

Controversial amendments to the Law on Political Parties have steamrolled through the legislative process and are likely to be signed into law this week, kicking up a chorus of concerns from the opposition, civil society and international rights groups. ...

Jailed activist Tep Vanny yesterday maintained her innocence and called on the judge to overturn her conviction in a hearing at the Appeal Court yesterday, as about 80 protesters demonstrated for her release outside. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Wednesday approved a draft sub-decree detailing new fire safety building codes as well as regulations for businesses selling flammable materials, an official said. ...

Authorities destroyed nearly 1,000 boxes of counterfeit beer yesterday following earlier raids sparked by a complaint filed by the sole distributor of the brand name beer. ...

Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders yesterday summoned members from across the Kingdom instructing them how to comply with impending new laws that will see former party President Sam Rainsy scrubbed clean from their prolific billboards – but not without a hint of defiance. ...

Banteay Meanchey Provincial Police are hunting four more suspects believed to be connected to a recent case of smuggling weapons to Thailand, with an official saying the group is accused of transporting the ordnance across the border. ...

National Police are monitoring Facebook to repress attempts to create a “rebel movement against the government” through negative posts and are working to better control civil society groups that have “opposition trends” and try to cause instability in society, a semiannual police report issued yesterday ...