News

Former Deputy Prime Minister Lu Lay Sreng, who has been abroad since October, has been summonsed to appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court for a defamation hearing on January 25. Lay Sreng, 77, was sued for defamation by his former party, Funcinpec, and Prime Minister ...

The King has signed off on another round of mass military promotions, elevating 45 officers to the rank of brigadier general, contributing to the rising total of at least 607 new generals in the last 10 months. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng held a meeting with other top ministry officials yesterday to discuss introducing a legal amendment banning insults to the King, similar to so-called “lèse-majesté” laws in Thailand, which critics have characterised as a cudgel to suppress dissent. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni signed off on four sets of controversial amendments to Cambodia’s electoral laws yesterday, officially approving provisions that will allow the opposition CNRP’s seats to be redistributed in the event of its dissolution. ...

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. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni will once again be out of Cambodia on the day that widely condemned new laws are due to be signed into force, prompting some observers to suggest he is abstaining from affixing his signature to politically questionable legislation. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni yesterday oversaw a tree planting ceremony in Kandal province to mark the 27th Arbor Day, pleading for all citizens to protect the country’s forests. ...

With King Norodom Sihamoni out of the country, Senate President and CPP stalwart Say Chhum is set to sign off on controversial new changes to the Law on Political Parties, the last step in what some are calling the final, fatal blow to Cambodia’s democracy. ...

Freshly pardoned CNRP deputy leader Kem Sokha yesterday claimed the pardon that exonerated him on Friday was made without any conditions or concessions from the opposition party. The acting president of the opposition, who had been under de facto house arrest since May and had been ...

King Norodom Sihamoni ordered last week that the Phnom Penh boundaries be expanded to include portions from neighboring Kandal province in a bid to improve the city’s development. In a royal decree dated November 11, but only released on November 21, King Sihamoni ordered the government ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not one to arrive without a gift. On his first visit to Cambodia as head of state on Thursday, he pledged some $237 million in aid, erased almost $90 million in state debt, offered nearly $15 million in military support and ...

Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will travel to Cambodia for a three-day official visit next week, where she will meet with King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and attend multiple groundbreaking ceremonies at schools in Kampong Speu and Kampong Thom provinces, according to a ...

The governors of Siem Reap and Kompong Chhnang provinces have been promoted in the military, according to a royal decree signed last month. The decree, which was signed by King Norodom Sihamoni and dated April 24, promotes Siem Reap governor Khim Bunsong from major general to ...

The National Bank of Cambodia on Tuesday officially issued a new 50,000-riel banknote (in equivalent to 12.5 U.S. dollars) in order to mark King Norodom Sihamoni’s 61st birthday, which falls on May 14. A sub-decree on the issuance of the new banknote was endorsed by ...

Pen Siman, the general director of the Ministry of Finance’s general department of customs and excise, will retire in October, according to a royal decree signed by King Norodom Sihamoni and reprinted Wednesday in local media. Dated April 3, the royal decree instructs Prime Minister Hun ...

Nearly 80 judges and prosecutors will be transferred to new jurisdictions today in a move that the Justice Ministry maintained would curb corruption, despite more sceptical assessments yesterday from legal observers and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. According to Sam Prachea Manith, chief of cabinet ...

The long-awaited draft law on the Supreme Council of Magistracy continues the practice of secret votes and gives Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana key powers, according to excerpts from the document, but it would reduce the position of King Norodom Sihamoni if passed in its ...

A government request to create a new province in the eastern half of Kompong Cham, where the ruling CPP won its only districts in the province in July’s national election, was approved by King Norodom Sihamoni last month, according to a copy of the Royal ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s younger sister, Hun Sinath, has been nominated to the position of Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection. She was nominated, at the age of 57, by King Norodom Sihamoni on December 9, 2013. .. ...

Seventy National Police generals have been signed into retirement by Prime Minister Hun Sen, having surpassed civil servants’ mandatory retirement age of 60 years old. The request to retire the generals was made in a letter to King Norodom Sihamoni by the premier on November 27, ...

An expatriate living in Phnom Penh has set up a fund to raise $3,000 over the next month to help pay the medical expenses of a student shot in the spine by a police officer at the SL Garment Factory workers’ protest last month. Hoeurn Chann, ...

The government yesterday warned citizens to respect King Norodom Sihamoni in social media commentary. The warning then backpedals, acknowledging the government recognises the rights of expression and freedom of the press outlined in the constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ...

Tep Bopha Prasidh, a wealthy businesswoman and wife of Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, has been anointed with the sought-after royal title of oknha. According to an August edition of the Royal Gazette, King Norodom Sihamoni signed off on the new title on July 11. Roughly translated as tycoon, oknha is a ...

Cambodia’s charismatic opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived in his home country on Friday morning after spending nearly four years abroad in self-imposed exile to avoid an 11-year prison sentence on charges of disinformation and destruction of public property. Hun Sen said his request to the ...