An NGO officer said three young environmental activists were taken into custody in Phnom Penh and a fourth detained in Kandal province on Wednesday, but authorities have not confirmed the reported arrests, with National Police referring reporters to a Covid-19 committee.
Eight people have been charged for extortion in Preah Vihear province after allegedly extorting the owner of a woodworking workshop as journalists.
A senior U.S. diplomat asked the Cambodian government to release political prisoners and restore democratic norms ahead of the 2022 and 2023 elections, she said during a conference call Wednesday.
An Interior Ministry official said it closed a sexual abuse investigation against a Kampong Thom police chief after the accusers did not go to court, defending the ministry for failing to respond to three high-profile sexual assault and harassment cases in the past year.
Civil society observers welcomed the justice minister’s call to root out corruption in the courts, but said challenges could remain to remove politics from the country’s judiciary.
A former vice president of the outlawed opposition CNRP has broken with the strident wing of the party in asking the government to be reinstated to politics this week, a course of action that a party co-founder has previously criticized as effective betrayal.
Prime Minister Hun Sen is setting the stage for heightened repression with his message over the weekend that there are opposition plans “to sabotage the upcoming elections,” civil society groups say.
The government has renewed its promise to give cash aid to low-income people living in the capital’s most restrictive “red zone” lockdown areas, of about $39 to $78 for families and $40 to garment workers, following a string of protests over livelihoods.
The Health Ministry is withholding Covid-19 case details under leaders’ instructions, as they are kept at the provincial level, preparing them nationally could take too long, neighboring countries also give only broad totals, and officials want to do more analysis, a spokesperson said.
The Defense Ministry has been put in charge of a red-zone vaccination drive set to begin on Saturday and which aims to inoculate more than 800,000 people in Phnom Penh districts hit hard by Covid-19.
Four activists arrested this week are all from environmental group Mother Nature, a rights group has said — as an Interior Ministry official alleged the “rebellious” group was using foreign money to try to topple the government.
Soldiers Shoot Farmer in Attempt to Reclaim State Land Jun 3, 9:42 pm 
Updated: US Ends Funding in $21M Prey Lang Project,… Jun 17, 9:41 am 
Bicycle Factory’s Covid-19 Panic and Mass Escape… May 27, 7:37 pm 
NagaWorld’s Top Union Leaders Receive Dismissal Notices May 28, 8:19 pm 
Covid-19 Cases Rise Across Several Provinces,… Jun 4, 10:30 am 
VOD is a local independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
