The Cambodia Daily

King Norodom Sihamoni signed the NGO law on Wednesday, according to a government official, bringing into effect a piece of legislation that has been internationally rebuked as a serious threat to free speech and association. ...

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia on Wednesday deemed new legislation regulating the country’s non-governmental organizations to be in full compliance with the Constitution, rejecting all arguments—from the U.N. down to the NGOs themselves—that it flies in the face of the highest law of the land. ...

The backlash began Wednesday against a new Education Ministry directive that bans political activities and unauthorized associations at academic institutions, with the country’s largest teachers’ union and various youth groups accusing the government of hypocrisy. ...

Responding to criticism of the eighteen-month jail terms handed down to four unionists who blocked a road at a strike in Svay Rieng province last year, a deputy prosecutor said Wednesday that their actions were as severe as those of former Bavet City governor Chhouk ...

A sub-decree regulating the internal functioning of the new National Election Committee was signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday, paving the way for the election body to select new administrative officials and begin organizing itself for elections scheduled for 2017 and 2018. ...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province arrested three men Wednesday morning after discovering nearly 150 kg of illegal bushmeat in the vehicle they were driving, a forestry official said. ...

As about 100 fishermen in Koh Kong province on Wednesday resumed their monthslong campaign against a company they accuse of illegal sand dredging, an environmental NGO claimed the firm was now hiring locals as security guards in an attempt to divide the community. ...

The Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court on Tuesday questioned a district police chief over allegations that he raped a high school student in his office last month but did not charge the official, who has been suspended pending investigations by the court and National Police. ...

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Tuesday informed Indian Ambassador Dinesh Patnaik that Cambodia wants plans to build an Angkor Wat replica in that country scrapped entirely, ministry spokesman Chum Sunry told reporters after a meeting between the two officials to mark Mr. Patnaik’s last day ...

The Ministry of Education has issued a directive banning political activism or association at academic institutions, saying it will fine or shut down universities, post-secondary schools and student organizations that have engaged in or promoted political activity. ...

A group of 55 drivers who briefly went on strike last month settled their dispute with the Royal Cambodian Limousine Service over unpaid overtime wages on Monday, agreeing to accept between $600 and $700 per driver, according to a representative of the drivers. Chhay Buntha, ...

The Svay Rieng Provincial Court director said Tuesday that the bus company involved in a deadly crash that killed 19 people and injured 21 in Svay Rieng province in May has had its latest compensation offer rejected by the victims’ families. ...

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry said Tuesday that the government was considering a request made by the new Thai ambassador to repatriate seven of the country’s nationals serving prison sentences in Cambodia. ...

The country’s anti-corruption czar on Tuesday said the former director of the National Malaria Center must pay back the $351,000 in bribes he took in exchange for mosquito net contracts—effectively admitting the ex-director’s guilt—but that he would not be prosecuted. ...

A majority of members of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents the country’s more than 500 exporting garment factories, have voted against any raise to their workers’ minimum wage next year. ...

Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana on Monday presided over the swearing-in of 55 recent graduates of the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions as judges and prosecutors at the Royal Palace’s throne hall in Phnom Penh. ...

Police from Takeo province came under fire in neighboring Kampot province early Sunday morning as they pursued a truck transporting a load of luxury wood while four other cars tried to protect the truck carrying the timber, according to officials, who said police managed to ...

The Pursat Provincial Court on Monday charged a border police official with intentional violence for cutting off his colleague’s fingers with a cleaver at their barracks on Friday night, officials said. ...

With the Grade 12 national high school exam about two weeks away, a group of five NGOs sent a letter to the Ministry of Education on Monday asking the government to prevent guesthouses from hiking their prices for students who have to stay overnight in ...

The head of the Forestry Administration’s Mondolkiri cantonment said Monday that he had accused one man over an August 1 incident in which military police freed the drivers of four trucks transporting illegally logged timber from the custody of anti-economic crime police and escaped with ...

Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol on Monday asked the World Bank and the European Union to review a trio of new trade agreements with Cambodia’s neighbors to determine what impact the deals would have on the country’s exports. ...

The relatives and neighbors of two sisters who were arrested in Phnom Penh last week over the alleged sexual enslavement of their 13-year-old niece are angry. Members of the mostly Cham Muslim community living along the Tonle Sap river in Russei Keo district’s Chraing Chamreh ...

Cambodia is planning to join the regional anti-drug-trafficking operation Safe Mekong, which aims to stem the flow of illegal narcotics through the notorious “Golden Triangle” area, after Thailand and Laos announced they had asked for Cambodia and Vietnam to be involved. ...

A visiting delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, which handles tens of billions of dollars in regional investment, says it raised concerns about the low threshold for forming unions in a pending new law during meetings with government officials Monday. ...