The Cambodia Daily
Villagers in R’kiri dispute block road
Villagers in Ratanakkiri province blocked National Road 78A on Thursday for more than three hours as authorities tried to push through to evict them in favor of a rubber company, police and villagers said. About 400 villagers blocked the section of the road that links O’Chum ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-in-rkiri-dispute-block-road-59442/
Control of district council decided by lottery
Control of a 17-seat district council in Kompong Cham province was determined by a Buddhist monk pulling a name out of a box Wednesday after election results revealed an equal number of votes for both parties. The CPP and CNRP each came away with 36 votes ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/control-of-district-council-decided-by-lottery-59444/
City Hall offers final warning to displaced farmers
A group of about 200 farmers from Kratie province refused on Thursday to leave a pagoda in Phnom Penh—their home base for protests against their eviction at the hands of a Vietnamese rubber company—as the city’s deputy governor warned them that the municipal government would ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-offers-final-warning-to-displaced-kratie-farmers-59436/
Journalists in CPP firing line over ‘1-party’ tag
The single-party National Assembly sat for the third day of its third plenary session Thursday, with a senior ruling party lawmaker calling on Information Minister Khieu Kanharith to examine whether journalists who call the Assembly “single party” can be punished under law. Sixty-four of the 68 ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/journalists-in-cpp-firing-line-over-1-party-tag-59430/
Huge haul of smuggled ivory came from Kenya
The three-ton haul of illegal elephant ivory seized by port officials on May 9 originated in Kenya and was then shipped through Malaysia to Cambodia in two freight containers, the chief of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port’s customs and excise department said Thursday. Most of the elephant ...
Khy Sovuthy and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/huge-haul-of-smuggled-ivory-came-from-kenya-59451/
Economic official in K Cham Hit and run
A car belonging to Ly Thida, the director of the Kompong Cham provincial department of economy and finance, was involved in a fatal hit-and-run collision Thursday in the province’s Choeung Prey district, a police official said. District deputy police chief Cheang Se said two people were ...
Hay Pisey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/economic-official-in-k-cham-hit-and-run-59440/
Union leader rejects video, photo evidence
During his second day under questioning on charges of inciting violence and property damage at a January 2 protest, union leader Vorn Pao was presented with photographs showing his tuk-tuk packed with rocks, and a video of him calling on low-ranking police to turn their ...
Eang Mengleng and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-rejects-video-photo-evidence-59326/
Farmers blocked from petitioning Red Cross
Municipal and military police on Wednesday blocked a group of about 100 displaced farmers from Kratie province who were attempting to deliver a petition to the Cambodian Red Cross’ Phnom Penh headquarters calling on the group to help them in their land dispute with a ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/farmers-blocked-from-petitioning-red-cross-59339/
Hun Sen attends dinner, presentation in China
Accompanied by his wife, Bun Rany, Prime Minister Hun Sen continued his trip to China on Tuesday evening by attending a dinner reception hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to state news agency Agence Kampuchea Press. Mr. Hun Sen and his delegation of high-level officials ...
Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-attends-dinner-presentation-in-china-59355/
CPP lawmakers lash out at critics of one-party Assembly
The single-party National Assembly sat for the second day of its third plenary session Wednesday, discussing two of eight chapters of the draft law on the Organization and Functioning of the Courts. The CPP-only parliament—minus 55 boycotting opposition CNRP lawmakers-elect—convened to discuss the first of three ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-lawmakers-lash-out-at-critics-of-one-party-assembly-59332/
Ratanakkiri homes razed as authorities move in
More than 400 people clashed with police and military police in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday as authorities attempted to bulldoze their houses to make way for a rubber company plantation, villagers said. Authorities managed to bulldoze the houses of about 200 families, who they said had ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ratanakkiri-homes-razed-as-authorities-move-in-59341/
TVK boss’ departure draws further concern
Media watchdogs on Wednesday expressed concern that the resignation on Saturday of Kem Gunawadh, long-serving director-general of state broadcaster TVK, was due to the station’s airing of an opposition campaign spot showing violent government protest repressions. In a statement, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media and ...
Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/tvk-boss-departure-draws-further-concern-59348/
Ministry swapped in deal with timber magnate
In yet another land swap deal that will see lucrative state-owned land handed to a private business in exchange for a new building on cheaper land, the Try Pheap Group has built a new headquarters for the Women’s Affairs Ministry in Stung Meanchey commune. In return, ...
Aun Pheap and Alex Consiglio
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-swapped-in-deal-with-timber-magnate-59216/
Rights group says US military support breaches Congress bill
U.S.-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report claiming that Washington’s ongoing support for Cambodian security forces is inconsistent with U.S. Congress directives regarding aid to Cambodia. HRW charges that last month’s 10-day Angkor Sentinel military exercise, undertaken by members of the ...
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-says-us-military-support-breaches-congress-bill-59227/
Union leader details beating by soldiers
Taking the stand for the first time since his arrest at a garment worker protest that turned violent in early January, union leader Vorn Pao told the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday that he went to the protest only to make peace and was ...
Eang Mengleng and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-details-beating-by-soldiers-59221/
Future unclear for dormant health center
Nearly three years after it was shut down for supposed renovations, Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon Referral Hospital is still not operational and former staff say they have been left out in the cold about what will happen to the site. Commune, district, municipal and national health ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/future-unclear-for-dormant-health-center-59231/
Three provincial police chiefs shuffle jobs
Three provincial police chiefs will move into different jobs over the next three days due to their retirement or election to council positions, a police official said Tuesday. Kompong Chhnang provincial police chief Brigadier General Ath Khem will be replaced by his deputy, Brigadier General Prak ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-provincial-police-chiefs-shuffle-jobs-59237/
Transparency group to launch anti-graft app
Transparency International Cambodia (T.I.) will next week launch an app for smartphones that allows users to log instances of bribery with the advocacy group. Bribespot, the work of a team of German computer programmers, will encourage users to share details of corrupt activity in real time, ...
Matt Blomberg and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/transparency-group-to-launch-anti-graft-app-59242/
Australian media cite Hun Sen Facebook page on refugee deal
A post on a Facebook page that Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied is his own was cited Tuesday by both the Sydney Morning Herald and Australia’s national broadcaster as having officially announced the Cambodian government’s agreement to resettle asylum seekers held by Australia. Mr. Hun ...
Alex Willemyns and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-media-cite-hun-sen-facebook-page-on-refugee-deal-59229/
Fight to save B’bang heritage finds new allies
When an old building formerly owned by the state was demolished on the outskirts of Battambang City in February, for some, it was the last straw. The giant, freestanding colonial-era mansion with the round windows, the blue shutters and the cracking yellow paint had become one ...
Matt Blomberg and Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fight-to-save-bbang-heritage-finds-new-allies-59105/
Talk of betrayal as CNRP loses council race in Prey Veng
Anyone passing through Prey Doeum Thnoeng could be forgiven for pinning the tidy little village for a stronghold of the ruling CPP. Just about every second house along the red dirt road through town sports a bright blue banner with a checkmark next to the ...
Zsombor Peter and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/talk-of-betrayal-as-cnrp-loses-race-in-prey-veng-58973/
Five months on, witnesses recall Muon Sokmean’s beating
Muon Sokmean, a 29-year-old garment worker, scrambled off Veng Sreng Street on January 3 with military police in violent pursuit, brandishing their batons. What had been a militant protest for a $160 minimum wage in the garment sector—with many protesters lobbing rocks and crude Molotov cocktails ...
Mech Dara and Alex Consiglio
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/five-months-on-witnesses-recall-muon-sokmeans-beating-59115/
No criminal charges against hit-and-run officer
Police said Sunday that they will not pursue charges against Ek Sovannara—the son of a former Kandal provincial police chief—whose Lexus SUV on April 12 crashed into a motorbike carrying three men, killing one and causing the other two to have their left legs amputated. The ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-criminal-charges-against-hit-and-run-officer-58992/
Teachers who claimed graft told to keep quiet
Teachers in Oddar Meanchey province, who last week accused district education officials of stealing their salaries, were on Monday threatened with expulsion for talking to the media, a teachers union said. The Anlong Veng district education director summoned about 15 teachers and school officials to the ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/teachers-who-claimed-graft-told-to-keep-quiet-59124/