Year’s crime ranged from brutal to bizarre
Law and order in Cambodia this year has been a strange mix of the brutal and the bizarre. From horrific murders to the police’s decision to deliver crystal meth to phony hostage-takers during a bank heist, crime has continually made headlines in a year when the election has otherwise saturated coverage. In an offbeat start to 2013, what was first thought to be a hostage situation at an Acleda Bank branch in Kampong Cham turned out to be an elaborately planned bank heist by some employees. … In February, the first of several high-profile attacks on foreigners took place in Kampot. French tourist Ophélie Begnis, 25, was murdered after last being seen leaving her guesthouse on a bike. Her naked body was later found floating in an estuary. … Other murders have included those of children, another school teacher and a chief abbot. In a year in which a UN report found that on average, one in five men in Cambodia had raped, the Kingdom experienced a number of horrific gang rapes. … Lieutenant General Mok Chito, chief of central justice at the Ministry of Interior’s police department, said yesterday that despite what the headlines suggested, rape and murder cases had decreased. “Felonies that have decreased include murder, robbery, theft and rape,” he said. Chito could not provide statistics, but insisted the number of foreigners murdered or attacked this year had also fallen. … In between dishing out heavy sentences for drug trafficking, Cambodian courts also dealt with cases involving a number of colourful personalities. David Chanaiwa, a disbarred lawyer, was arrested in March for allegedly beating up 10 journalists as they filmed the scene of a car wreck he had just walked away from. … The year began with stories about Russian tycoon Sergei Polonsky, the eccentric owner of a private island off Sihanoukville, who had been arrested some days earlier over allegations of violence against six boatmen. Complaints were soon dropped, but charges remained. … While 2013 was undoubtedly full of crime reports without a happy ending, the story of 18-year-old Kov Sreyleak being reunited with her stolen baby was a heartwarming exception. …
Shane Worrell and Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/years-crime-ranged-brutal-bizarre
