The Cambodia Daily

The Geneva-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders has appealed to the public to urge Cambodian authorities to end their “judicial harassment” of prominent human rights advocate Ny Chakrya, who stands charged with public defamation and attempting to coerce court officials. ...

The government is considering opening additional consulates in China in an attempt to attract more tourists from the world’s second-largest economy, according to a message posted to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s official Facebook page. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has been unable to find evidence corroborating claims that a Health Ministry official has been demanding bribes to allow vehicles to cross the Bavet International Checkpoint in Svay Rieng province, it said in a report obtained Tuesday. ...

A Rohingya refugee who landed in Phnom Penh in June as part of a controversial resettlement deal with Australia is likely back in Burma after requesting to return home, according to the Interior Ministry. ...

The Cambodian Higher Education Association released a statement on Saturday defending its members against claims made last week by CNRP President Sam Rainsy, who criticized the quality of Cambodia’s postsecondary education system. ...

Two Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Mondolkiri province as they attempted to cross the border back into Vietnam on Thursday in a tour bus loaded with high-grade timber, authorities said Sunday. ...

Philippe Broaly, the former French judge and child-protection NGO director who was convicted in May for sexually assaulting boys in his care, had his sentence extended to three years by the Appeal Court on Friday, according to anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE). ...

Decades after her mother died, Orn Bottumrasmey was finally reunited with her ashes three days ago. ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday signed off on a potentially sweeping draft law that would regulate the country’s telecommunications sector, which a rights group warned in May could effectively nationalize private service providers. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday acquitted a land broker of allegedly defrauding a businessman out of $2.5 million over a 9,000-hectare economic land concession (ELC) in Mondolkiri province that was eventually revoked by the government. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen will be awarded an honorary doctorate in Khmer literature from a Chinese University during an official visit to China, to attend a number of forums and conferences.  ...

Dozens of workers fainted at a garment factory in Kompong Chhnang province on Friday after seeing one of their colleagues have a seizure, which they feared was caused by an electric shock from her sewing machine, a police official said. ...

A controversial Facebook platform that offers users free Internet —but a limited choice of websites and apps—was launched in Phnom Penh on Thursday in cooperation with mobile operator Smart Axia­ta, its CEO said on Friday. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday sentenced two Vietnamese women to five years in prison for attempting to send pseudoephedrine—a common precursor in the synthesis of methamphetamine—to Australia in a box of bras. ...

Six of the country’s eight major gas retailers yesterday agreed to a request from the Commerce Ministry to lower the price of gas by 100 riel (about two cents) per liter for the Pchum Ben festival, as negotiations on a formula for setting a price ...

Four of the top officials from charismatic radio personality Mam Sonando’s new Beehive Social Democratic Party, including a deputy leader, have filed a court complaint requesting a temporary injunction against the party’s operations until corruption claims are investigated. ...

The CPP issued a statement Thursday denying any role in a protest against CNRP President Sam Rainsy during his visit to Oddar Meanchey province on Wednesday. ...

The government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s multibillion-dollar garment industry at $140 Thursday—up from $128—after months of tough negotiations that failed to bring employers and unions even close to a consensus. ...

As 24 Montagnards returned to Vietnam on Thursday after Cambodia refused to process their asylum claims, rights groups criticized the U.N.’s refugee agency for assisting the government in repatriating the group to a country where they claim to have fled from persecution. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen released a three-page statement Thursday claiming there were “no differences” between what opposition leader Sam Rainsy would do to the country if he won the next election and the destruction Pol Pot wrought during his three years in power. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided Wednesday to reinvestigate the origins of the doctored treaty that provided the impetus for the arrest of opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour, after the senator’s lawyer told the court that his client did not forge it. ...

A deputy prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has decided not to pursue criminal charges against a fugitive nightclub owner who police say is liable for the deaths of six people killed by a fire at the establishment on September 7. ...

Factory and union representatives remain as far apart as ever over where to set next year’s minimum wage for garment workers, now at $128 per month, after hours of heated negotiations Wednesday and a vote that seemed to settle nothing. ...

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron yesterday slammed opposition leader Sam Rainsy for dismissing university degrees in the country as value-less and labeling the education system one of the poorest in the world. ...