News
PM: Prevent illegal exports of timber
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday urged relevant authorities to stamp out the export of timber abroad without authorisation and transparency. Speaking during an annual meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Thursday, Hun Sen called on officials to work together in ...
Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-prevent-illegal-exports-timber
Sao Sokha: Combat forestry crimes
General Sao Sokha, the deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and commander of the National Military Police, on Monday, ordered relevant authorities to put more effort into combating natural resource-related crimes. According to Fresh News, Sokha, who also chairs the National Committee ...
Niem Chheng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sao-sokha-combat-forestry-crimes
News outlet links officer to illegal timber trade
National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy said legal action is being “considered” after a news outlet published a report linking the force’s commander, Sao Sokha, to the illegal timber trade. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/news-outlet-links-officer-illegal-timber-trade
Police admit logging failure
The National Committee for Forest Crime Prevention has admitted that despite claims from a variety of high-level government officials that deforestation and illegal logging had been stopped entirely, the illegal timber trade was still ravaging the country’s forests. In June, Environment Minister Say Samal claimed the ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29769/police-admit-logging-failure/
Prey Lang still logged: community
Continued widespread logging in the Prey Lang forest is evidence that the government’s recent push to have more than 400,000 hectares of land protected is toothless, according to activists as well as a Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) report released yesterday. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26693/prey-lang-still-logged--community/
Auctions of illegal timber to resume, officials say
Top officials on Monday said the government would be auctioning off some of the 70,000 cubic meters of wood authorities have seized in recent months, backtracking on a recent pledge Hun Sen made to stop the sales. ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/auctions-of-illegal-timber-to-resume-officials-say-112370/
War declared on illegal weapons
Sao Sokha, the commander-in-chief of the military police, has ordered his units to crack down on illegal gun ownership, pledging to resign his post if he is unable to reduce the prevalence of arms. Speaking at the Royal Gendarmerie’s annual meeting on Monday, he ordered ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22082/war-declared-on-illegal-weapons/
‘Hitler of Stung Meanchey’ weighs in
Amid a staunch defence of the performance of a newly formed illegal logging committee’s recent crackdown and remarks on concerns over gun control, National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha took time out to address his now infamous year-old comments on Adolf Hitler yesterday at the ...
Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gender-underplayed-krts-00201-report
NGOs, military police join forces in logging crackdown
Six prominent conservation groups yesterday vowed to help a military police task force fight illegal logging near the eastern border yesterday. However, scepticism persists that the highly publicised operation, which has resulted in few arrests, is merely for show. ...
Mech Dara and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-military-police-join-forces-logging-crackdown
Rubber company denies any illegal logging
A rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province targeted by a new government task force sweeping the eastern provinces for illicit timber stocks has denied any involvement in the illegal logging trade. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-company-denies-any-illegal-logging-108555/
Another cache of buried logs found near Oknha’s sawmill
Authorities have unearthed another cache of high-grade logs buried near a well-known timber dealer’s sawmill in Tbong Khmum province, weeks after finding a stockpile of buried logs on the businessman’s property in the same district. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/another-cache-of-buried-logs-found-near-oknhas-sawmill-107986/
Illegal lumber trade stalled as two more warehouses raided
Military police investigated two warehouses in Kratie and Mondulkiri provinces yesterday amid a crackdown on illegal logging in eastern Cambodia. As police continue to raid warehouses and tighten security along the Vietnamese border, illegal logging and the sale of luxury wood has ground to a ...
May Titthara and And Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/20147/illegal-lumber-trade-stalled-as-two-more-warehouses-raided/
Vietnam border sealed against loggers
Cambodia’s military police said yesterday that they have sealed the Vietnam border against wood transport following a major crackdown on two tycoons’ logging warehouses on Sunday. Local observers and experts, however, suggested the actions were little more than a hiccup for a long-tolerated illicit trade. ...
Mech Dara, Igor Kossov and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vietnam-border-sealed-against-loggers
Gov’t creates new forestry crimes task force
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday announced the creation of a committee tasked with putting an end to the rampant illegal logging and cross-border timber smuggling taking place in the country’s northeast. លោកនាយករដ្ឋម ន្រ្តីហ៊ុនសែន នៅថ្ងៃសុក្រនេះ បានប្រកាស ការបង្កើតនៃ គណៈកម្មាធិ ការបញ្ចប់ ការកាប់ឈើខុសច្បាប់ ទោរទន់ រត់ពន្ធ និងជាកន្លែង ទទួលយក ឈើ ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-creates-new-forestry-crimes-task-force-105629/
Tbong Khmum timber warehouses raide
Authorities yesterday raided several logging warehouses in the country’s east, just days after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a crackdown on illegal timber smuggling into Vietnam. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tbong-khmum-timber-warehouses-raided
Police ordered to inspect private ambulance licenses
National Police and National Military Police have been ordered by the Health Ministry to inspect the licenses of all private ambulances, which are often seen fighting for business at the scene of traffic accidents before charging exorbitant prices for their services. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-ordered-to-inspect-private-ambulance-licenses-104535/
Sao Sokha praises military police on anniversary
National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of the country during a ceremony in Phnom Penh to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of a wing of the armed forces that has been routinely called upon to crush dissent. ...
Khuon Narim and Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sao-sokha-praises-military-police-on-anniversary-88336/
Military cops suspended
Four military police officers have been suspended from their duties after an incident last week in which officials shot at, arrested and beat two men driving a rice truck that ran a checkpoint. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/military-cops-suspended
Commission set up to probe military police beating of truck driver
National military police commander Sao Sokha has set up an ad hoc commission to investigate a group of officers who allegedly shot at a truck that drove through a pair of checkpoints in Thbong Khmum province on Thursday night, then beat up the driver and ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/commission-set-up-to-probe-military-police-beating-of-truck-driver-80570/
Defense Ministry official asks for military-plate tax exemption
A Defense Ministry official has requested that vehicles bearing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) license plates be exempt from paying the country’s road tax, noting that a recent increase in inspections by tax officials could hurt “military officers’ feelings.” ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/defense-ministry-official-asks-for-military-plate-tax-exemption-77590/
Rights group calls for Sao Sokha’s removal
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday released a statement condemning National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha for his admission that he sanctioned a “partisan use of force” in a January 15 speech in which he spoke of opposition protesters as the military police’s foes. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-calls-for-sao-sokhas-removal-76662/
NGOs call on Hun Sen to shun ‘Hitler’ comments
Sixteen local NGOs released a joint statement Thursday calling on Prime Minister Hun Sen to publicly repudiate National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha’s January 15 speech in which he said he learned strategy from Adolf Hitler. ...
Ouch Sony and Van Roeun
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ngos-call-on-hun-sen-to-shun-hitler-comments-76579/
Hitler remarks misread: Military Police chief
National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha hit out for the first time yesterday at reports that he claims to draw inspiration from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, arguing that his comments were misinterpreted. During an annual meeting of Phnom Penh’s military police on Thursday, local media reported ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hitler-remarks-misread-military-police-chief
Heng Pov conviction upheld
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a conviction against former Phnom Penh Police chief Heng Pov and three other men for the attempted murder of Military Police chief General Sao Sokha in 2003. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/heng-pov-conviction-upheld