March 5, 2021
National Assembly President Heng Samrin, center, raises his hand at the National Assembly on March 5, 2021, in this photograph posted to his Facebook page.

Hotel Guards Out of Quarantine as ‘Draconian’ Covid-19 Law Advances

A Covid-19 law with penalties up to 20 years in jail for intentionally spreading the disease was passed by the National Assembly on Friday and heads to the Senate, as two hotel security guards accused of allowing people to leave quarantine finished their own two-week isolation and were detained by National Police.

Environment Ministry spokesperson Neth Pheaktra shows confiscated chainsaws at the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary during a government-organized trip, on February 14, 2021. (Tran Techseng/VOD)

Report Connects Prey Lang Deforestation to Community Patrol Crackdown

A new report from the Prey Lang Community Network links increasing deforestation in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary to a yearlong ban on independent patrols, as forest activists were this year again stopped from activities in the forest and conducting their annual tree-blessing ceremony.