News
Water Cannon Crackdown on Cambodian Land Activists
Cambodian police used water cannons Wednesday to disperse around 200 women demanding a quick resolution to long-running land disputes, knocking at least three of the protesters, including a 72-year-old, unconscious. The move came two days after authorities used stun batons to disperse a protest over wages ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-05292013164116.html
Rice Boss in Pre-trial Detention ‘13 Months’
The general director of a local rice wholesaler accused of defrauding business associates in a deal has lashed out at the judiciary – claiming delays in legal processing have left him imprisoned for 13 months without trial. Sovann Veasna is accused of cheating three businessmen ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465829/National/rice-boss-in-pre-trial-detention-13-months.html
Troubled Village Embroiled In New Land Disputes
A year after a massive military raid here that left a 14-year old girl dead and hundreds of families evicted, there remains little sign of the original land dispute that turned this rural village into a hotbed of agitation. But a new firm and a government-issued ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/troubled-village-embroiled-in-new-land-disputes-25184/
Committee Formed to Sell Off Mfone’s Assets
The administrator dealing with the debts of defunct mobile operator Mfone yesterday established a committee to sell off the company’s remaining assets. Since it filed for bankruptcy in January, more than 1,000 creditors, including former staff, have claimed Mfone owes them a combined $160 million. Mfone’s remaining ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/committee-formed-to-sell-off-mfones-assets-22715/
Long-overdue Consolidation of the Kingdom’s Mobile Telecoms Market May Have Operators Feeling Hopeful, but Challenges Remain
After years of immersion in a vicious price war, battle weary and capital-haemorrhaging [sic] mobile operators in Cambodia’s oversaturated telecommunications sector may finally have reason to breathe a sigh of relief; 2013 might be cited as the year the tide turned. Tarred by legal threats, ...
Huawei withdraws injunction
Huawei Technologies (Cambodia) Co agreed yesterday to withdraw its injunction against Mfone in order to pave the way for a court-appointed administrator to sell the bankrupt company’s assets and compensate its many creditors. Along with other creditors, Huawei representatives expressed concerns that the assets would ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040964953/Business/huawei-withdraws-injunction.html
Rubber Fails: Court Halts Operations Of R’kiri Firm
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday temporarily suspended the operations of Vietnamese rubber concessionaire Day Dong Yoeung, which has clashed with Jarai ethnic minorities in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district since late last year, after its previous manager was jailed on fraud charges, district governor ...
Mfone’s Licence Revoked; Staff Terminated
The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has revoked the operating licence of bankrupt phone operator Mfone, which went out of business two months ago, while more than 1,000 employees had their jobs officially terminated yesterday. The revocation of the licence and the mass dismissal of the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/mfones-license-revoked-staff-terminated-16474/
Thumbprint dubious: court
The legitimacy of a lawsuit filed by prominent businesswoman Chhin Sokountheary, also known as “Crocodile Grandmother”, accusing Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema of abusing his power by stealing some 34 hectares of privately owned land is being called into question by the Phnom Penh Municipal ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032564664/National/thumbprint-dubious-court.html
Court Questions Chinese National’s Over Chemical Seizure
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday questioned five Chinese nationals after they were arrested during a seizure of more than 106 tons of chemicals police suspect were intended for the production of illegal drugs. The four men and one woman who were arrested on Tuesday, claimed ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-questions-chinese-nationals-over-chemical-seizure-15642/
Last Three Kratie Province ‘Secessionists’ Released from Prison
It was not the hero’s welcome that greeted Mam Sonando when more than a thousand boisterous supporters cheered his release from Prey Sar prison Friday and lifted the popular radio station owner onto their shoulders for an impromptu parade. But for the three unheralded farmers caught ...
MFone workers told to wait
Former employees of the failed telecommunications company MFone have been told they can expect a decision next month on their claims for more than $4 million in compensation. Former Mfone section manager Bou Kunthea said after a meeting yesterday with offic-ials from the Ministry of Social ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032062036/Business/mfone-workers-told-to-wait.html
‘Crocodile’ gran to file $100 million lawsuit
Prominent businesswoman Chhin Sokountheary yesterday announced her intention to sue Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema for falsifying documents saying she illegally occupied state land in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district in a bid to steal the land and develop a sports stadium on it. Sokountheary, 57 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031861997/National/crocodile-gran-to-file-100-million-lawsuit.html
Mam Sonando's verdict announced
Beehive radio owner Mam Sonando, along with two others appeared in the Court of Appeals Thursday to listen to their verdicts. The sentence was changed from five years to eight months imprisonment, but will be released on March 16, 2013 for having spent the same amount ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=NTNlN2Y5YmNmYjg
Prosecutor Wants Change To Sonando Charges
In a bizarre twist at the Appeal Court hearing of radio station owner Man Sonando, the prosecution yesterday asked that judges drop the charge against Mr. Sonando of inciting antigovernment violence, but then asked the court to uphold another charge leading to an insurrection. Mr. ...
Mfone Employees Demand Unpaid Salaries
More than 100 former employees of the bankrupt mobile telephone company Mfone protested outside the firm’s shuttered offices in Phnom Penh yesterday, demanding that they receive salaries for working the month of February despite the company having already gone out of business. Mar Samoeun, 64, ...
As Liquidation of Mfone Begins, Victims and Lawsuits Abound
As insolvency proceedings against bankrupt telecommunications firm Mfone begin, yet another company, Smart Mobile, has filed a court complaint to collect unpaid costs from the mobile operator, and the list of parties to have suffered from the firm’s collapse continue to grow. The Phnom Penh Municipal ...
Vendors Protest Over Worthless Mfone Cards
More than 100 mobile phone vendors protested yesterday outside the Phnom Penh headquarters of bankrupt mobile operator Mfone over their stocks of phone credit recharge cards that are now worthless, as the defunct company has transferred its subscribers to MobiTel, which does not recognize the ...
Court Enforces Injunction Against Mfone
A court official on Friday agreed to implement an injunction to freeze the assets of bankrupt telecommunications firm Mfone Co. Ltd., according to a lawyer in the case. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued the injunction against Mfone on January 17, after Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. ...
Mfone transfer questioned
Although Mfone subscribers are due to transfer their accounts to Mobitel today, the Post has learned that telco provider Huawei Technologies (Cambodia) is still waiting for a court to rule on the legality of the transaction. Huawei’s lawyer, Kuoy Thunna, filed a letter late last month ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020661207/Business/mfone-transfer-questioned.html
Factory Wants $200,000 From Union Members After Strikes
Representatives of the Golden Gain Shoe factory yesterday demanded in court that six members of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (CCAWDU) pay $200,000 in compensation for organizing a week of strikes at the factory. Factory management has accused the leader of the factory’s ...
Mfone $65 million in debt
Failed Cambodian telco Mfone owes at least $65 million to multiple creditors that sources say include the government. A court injunction to freeze Mfone‘s assets, obtained by the Post yesterday, shows Mfone owes Chinese telco provider Huawei Technologies more than $65 million. Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013013061068/Business/mfone-65-million-in-debt.html
Dozens sentenced in forest-clearing ring
Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced 28 people – including several government officials – to between two and five years in jail on charges of clearing state-protected flooded mangrove forest in Kampong Thom province in July of 2012. Presiding Judge Keo Mony said that Cheath Sivutha, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011860868/National/dozens-sentenced-in-forest-clearing-ring.html
Australian Investor Jailed After Business Dispute
An Australian businessman who once fronted a telecommunications firm in Cambodia has been sent to Prey Sar prison on fraud charges in a case one of his associates said was triggered by a disgruntled partner in a failed business venture. Frank May, 63, the former chief ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-investor-jailed-after-business-dispute-7759/