With more heavy rainfall expected this weekend and ongoing flooding that has killed at least 21 people this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen cast doubt that the in-filling of capital lakes had contributed to severe flooding in Phnom Penh.
A 15-year-old boy who illegally entered the outlawed CNRP’s former headquarters over the weekend was released by authorities on Tuesday morning after questioning.
Cambodia’s pandemic-hit garment industry took another blow on Wednesday, losing some of its duty-free trade access to the E.U., with the bloc noting that the government had failed to make political reforms to avoid the penalties.
Four opposition activists were arrested this week amid recurring protests calling for the release from prison of a prominent labor leader as well as members of the outlawed opposition CNRP, some of whose family members continued to demonstrate in the capital on Friday.
One forestry activist was beaten and another died after he was injured in a motorbike crash while both had been investigating illegal timber transportation in two separate incidents in which the activists had attempted to confront those they accused of forestry crimes.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has touted Cambodia’s “strong” agricultural sector as a solution to economic pressures during the global pandemic, though some observers doubt agriculture could make up for garment sector losses due to Covid-19 and the pending withdrawal of some E.U. trade perks.
The family of a jailed woman who died while in state custody in Ratanakiri is seeking answers about her cause of death and alleging foul play, while officials say she fell in a prison bathroom and died of a stroke or heart attack.
Justice Minister Keut Rith on Monday said anti-corruption measures were a key part of a plan to reduce the criminal case backlog at the courts, but also said corruption was not the cause of the current case pileup.
The E.U. has listed Cambodia as one of 12 “high-risk” countries with deficient anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts, but the government on Friday said officials were working hard to get the nation off international watch lists.
New, higher fines for traffic violations and stricter enforcement by authorities will place undue strain on motorists who are already losing income due to the pandemic-related economic downturn, civil society members and other observers said this week.
After authorities on Friday forcibly moved about a dozen people protesting across the street from the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, and arrested three, demonstrators highlighted how police tactics used during a later rally at the U.S. Embassy were as different as “the sky and earth.”
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