The Cambodia Daily
Embassies keep wary eye on cases against rights workers
Foreign diplomatic missions in Phnom Penh say they are closely watching the handling of the cases of human rights monitors and a national election official charged and jailed on Monday in connection with a sex scandal being prosecuted against an opposition leader. ...
Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/embassies-keep-wary-eye-cases-rights-workers-112137/
NEC decides not to seek bail for its deputy in bribery case
The National Election Committee (NEC) decided yesterday that it would not attempt to intervene on behalf of its deputy secretary-general, who was jailed on bribery charges on Monday in connection with the government’s probe of a sex scandal involving opposition leader Kem Sokha. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-decides-not-to-seek-bail-for-its-deputy-in-bribery-case-112124/
On regional tour, Japanese minister skips Cambodia
Cambodia is conspicuously missing from Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida’s itinerary for a trip to Southeast Asia this week that will see him visit Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand—where he on Monday pledged $7 billion for the region over three years. ...
Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/on-regional-tour-japanese-minister-skips-cambodia-112052/
UN, Adhoc staff charged over sex scandal
Four senior officers from local rights group Adhoc and a former officer who now works for the National Election Committee (NEC) were imprisoned on Monday on bribery charges over a sex scandal involving deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha. ...
Ben Sokhean and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-adhoc-staff-charged-over-sex-scandal-112053/
Government approves 133-story skyscraper
The government has given final approval for a planned $3 billion, 133-story twin-tower skyscraper that developers claim will be completed by 2018, a spokesman for the Ministry of Land Management said on Monday. ...
Kang Sothear and Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-approves-133-story-skyscraper-112063/
Government lifts decade-old Snakehead fish farming ban
The government has lifted a decade-old ban on snakehead fish farming following a request from the Ministry of Agriculture last month to once again allow farmers to breed the voracious fish, according to a statement dated Thursday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-lifts-decade-old-snakehead-fish-farming-ban-112009/
Prime minister cuts port prices, starts graft probe
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday announced across-the-board cuts to the fees being charged by three of the state’s main logistics firms and ordered a probe into transport sector corruption, which he blamed for nearly half the industry’s expenses. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pm-cuts-port-prices-starts-graft-probe-112013/
Labor day marches planned despite ban from city hall
Phnom Penh City Hall has rejected a request for two large-scale Labor Day marches on Sunday, but the unionists who have organized the demonstrations say they will proceed as planned. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-day-marches-planned-despite-ban-from-city-hall-111969/
Government slammed for arrests of NGO officers
Four senior officials of local rights group Adhoc and a National Election Committee (NEC) official were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) on Thursday night over allegations that they instructed an alleged mistress of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha to deny their affair. ...
Khy Sovuthy and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-slammed-for-arrests-of-ngo-officers-111973/
Officials identify leader of capital’s sex trafficking ring
Military police have identified the suspected leader of what they believe to be a sex trafficking ring masquerading as a masseuse-training agency as a 40-year-old businesswoman with Cambodian and Thai citizenship who owns karaoke parlors in both countries. ...
Police probe death of border guard in Koh Kong
A team of Interior Ministry officials traveled to Koh Kong province on Thursday to help local authorities investigate the death of a border police official who investigators suspect may have been murdered, according to officials. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-probe-death-of-border-guard-in-koh-kong-111906/
Graft Unit grills rights workers; UN stays away
The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) questioned officers of local human rights group Adhoc late into the evening for a second straight day on Thursday over claims that they had instructed the alleged mistress of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha to deny their affair. ...
Ben Sokhean and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/graft-unit-grills-rights-workers-un-stays-away-111887/
Cambodia to host 2017 world economic forum
Phnom Penh has been selected to host the 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia, the WEF confirmed on Wednesday. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-to-host-2017-wef-111865/
CNRP prohibited from erecting TV Antenna
Authorities in Kandal province’s Takhmao City have banned the opposition CNRP from erecting a television antenna on land they purchased there for what is meant to be Cambodia’s first opposition-aligned station—a key element of the July 2014 political deal. ...
Kuch Naren and Alex Willemyns
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-prohibited-from-erecting-tv-antenna-111850/
Commuting accident sends 18 garment workers to hospital
Eighteen garment workers were sent to the hospital on Wednesday when the truck they were riding to work overturned in Kompong Speu province after its two back tires blew out, according to police, who arrested the driver. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/commuting-accident-sends-18-garment-workers-to-hospital-111851/
Military readies 100 trucks for water crisis response
A hundred military trucks have been readied to transport water to drought-hit provinces, where hundreds of livestock deaths have been reported this month amid scorching heat. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/military-readies-100-trucks-for-water-crisis-response-111871/
Corruption czar’s sons appointed as assistants
Two sons of Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Chairman Om Yentieng have been appointed as assistants to the government graft-fighting body, sparking accusations of nepotism within the very institution meant to stamp out such practices. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/corruption-czars-sons-appointed-as-assistants-111794/
Date set for Rainsy’s latest defamation trial
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is living in France to avoid prison time, will be tried over allegations of defaming National Assembly President Heng Samrin starting July 28, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has announced. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/date-set-for-defamation-trial-111814/
Angkor Wat ‘tourist elephant’ firm pledges to trim hours
The Angkor Elephant Company has pledged to reduce the working hours of its animals following the death last Friday of Sambo, one of 14 elephants it uses to carry tourists around the Angkor Wat temple complex, although critics say anything short of their release from ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/angkor-wat-tourist-elephant-firm-pledges-trim-hours
Rights group says Anti-Corruption Unit’s claims baseless
Adhoc president Thun Saray on Tuesday defended his rights group’s pro-bono legal representation of the alleged mistress of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha, who last week rescinded her denials of the affair and accused Adhoc staff of convincing her to lie. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-says-anti-corruption-units-claims-baseless-111795/
Hun Sen says peace trumps free expression
A day after the ruling party filed a defamation complaint against one of the country’s most prominent political commentators, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday defended limitations on freedom of speech as being necessary for peace and stability. ...
Taylor O'Connell and Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-peace-trumps-free-expression-111805/
Prime minister warns of water shortage amid drought
Prime Minister Hun Sen took to Facebook on Friday to call on citizens to use water sparingly amid the worst drought in decades, also explaining that the government was trucking water to those most in need. ...
Aun Pheap and Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/prime-minister-warns-of-water-shortage-amid-drought-111705/
Manet returns from US, dismisses lawsuit
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, arrived back in Phnom Penh on Monday after two weeks in the U.S. and Canada, deriding a lawsuit filed against him in Los Angeles for wrongful imprisonment that includes a count of “international terrorism.” ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/manet-returns-from-us-dismisses-lawsuit-111744/
'I am Chut Wutty' film ban applies to all public shows
After plans to screen a documentary about slain environmental activist Chut Wutty at Phnom Penh’s Meta House were canceled at the behest of the Ministry of Culture last week, a ministry official said over the weekend that the film could not be publicly screened anywhere ...
Hannah Hawkins and Taylor O'Connell
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/i-am-chut-wutty-film-ban-applies-to-all-public-shows-111715/