Kep provincial officials cut down around 30 trees along the beachfront in the city and said this was done to beautify the area ahead of the Southeast Asia Games in May.
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party dropped a second lawsuit against former senior Candlelight adviser Kong Korm, days after he quit the opposition party.
More than 70 students at a Pursat high school have fainted over the last week, with some officials attributing the incidents to unhappy spirits at the school, whereas health officials said they believed the students were likely caused by minor health issues.
A former CNRP commune chief who was blocked from leaving the country last year had a retrial at a Phnom Penh court after she was convicted in absentia for incitement.
An Oddar Meanchey Candlelight official left the country with her children last year after she claimed security personnel attempted to take her life on three occasions.
The coming year will see hot and stormy weather for Cambodia, with the prospect of wars and disease across the world, according to the annual almanac.
Two people have died and three were injured after Sihanoukville’s Julie & Anna Entertainment Club caught fire on Monday night in Sihanoukville’s Bei commune.
Prominent unionist Rong Chhun joined the Candlelight Party on Tuesday, months shy of the national election and he expected a “big achievement” for the party in July.
Officials are studying the “legal aspects” of compensation with a Poipet casino after a fire killed at least 26 people while those trapped inside reported a lack of alarms, sprinklers and safety measures.
China is scrapping its travel bans starting Sunday, and Cambodia’s tourism industry is looking ahead to a return to the brisk trade seen pre-pandemic.
Bavet police have arrested four men for gun possession, including a suspect who works at an oknha-owned casino in the city.
Residents at a housing development in Phnom Penh say they have not been given land titles for homes and land they purchased from a real estate developer, alleging the company pawned their properties.
At least 19 bodies have been pulled from a Poipet city casino, including Cambodian, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese workers — and the death toll could double, provincial authorities said Thursday afternoon.
As Cambodia touted recovering trade and GDP growth, thousands took to the streets this year over repression at work or struggles in the market.
A man was “severely tortured” in a forest, extorted for $80,000 and required 15 stitches on his abdomen in a Sihanoukville attempted murder case, authorities said.
Mondulkiri prosecutors are questioning four people arrested after a confrontation between authorities and residents over an alleged land grab in Keo Seima district.
More than a quarter of high school seniors failed their final examinations in results posted across Phnom Penh and Kandal campuses on Thursday.
State security officers took photos of overseas protesters to find their families in Cambodia and question them — “and this is not a threat,” Prime Minister Hun Sen explained in a speech inaugurating a new road in Preah Sihanouk province.
A former singer at Phnom Penh’s infamous Rock Entertainment nightclub has been charged with financial crimes and could face years in jail over a tong tin savings scheme she claims went awry.
The Cambodian economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels in several areas, but instability around the world threatens its outlook, a World Bank report said today.
The second of two defamation and incitement cases against a political commentator has resurfaced and was heard today in court.
Opposition party leader and agriculture expert Yang Saing Koma and a colleague met with Prime Minister Hun Sen to discuss plans to recover the agriculture sector, with a ministry official saying he will be offered a secretary of state position in the government.
Before NagaWorld union president Chhim Sithar was arrested for violating bail conditions by traveling abroad, she had already been on two overseas trips, with her lawyer unaware of the restriction.
New reports detail online violence, particularly targeting female journalists, globally, as well as increasing poverty in Cambodia due to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic slowdown.
The Banteay Meanchey police detained and demanded an apology from a civil servant who criticized the government for weak rice prices in the country’s northwestern provinces, days after the Agriculture Ministry warned against any critical social media posts about rice prices.
The body of a Chinese man was found in a local stream after the man’s girlfriend posted online that he went missing from Poipet city, offering a $100,000 reward to find him.
Footwear unionists in Takeo were summoned and questioned by military police after attending a Women’s Crisis Center training in Phnom Penh, saying officers asked who was behind them and warned them of illegal protests.
The anti-cybercrime police said it was investigating complaints of fraud against a football-themed investment that allegedly lured people to send money before cutting off their withdrawals, and urged caution around online investments.
The Environment Ministry has ordered provincial officials to fire the Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary chief in Mondulkiri province over alleged abuses of power, including threatening local people who were collecting firewood.
Though a five-year political ban is set to end on Wednesday, former opposition officials will likely have little opportunity to make a difference in the upcoming election, the politicians as well as analysts say.
Prime Minister Hun Sen is returning home from Indonesia after testing positive for Covid-19, he said this morning, noting he has no symptoms but will miss meetings with Chinese and French leaders.
Two NagaWorld unionists have been questioned in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over breaking and entering, intentional damage and unlawful confinement — but they still don’t know what the casino company is accusing them of, they said.
Phnom Penh police are investigating a traffic accident that led authorities to find 200 kg of drugs inside a military pickup truck.
The Koh Kong court is questioning six suspects over the kidnapping and detention of a Malaysian woman, as local police said some foreign nationals and crime-linked operations were moving into the province as they “evacuate” from Sihanoukville.
Jailed forest activist Chorn Phalla’s wife said Phalla was getting sick in prison and asked for his release, though a prison official disputed the account saying there were doctors inside and the activist was fine.
A small group of hunger strikers was down to only one activist — fasting at home — due to security concerns and exhaustion by the time their protest action ended along with the Asean Summit.
Land protesters have begun camping out at a controversial lake, activists are undertaking a hunger strike, and unionists will continue their casino protests despite threats of legal action for gathering during the Asean Summit.
Hundreds of residents in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh protested this week over displacement due to an Angkor resettlement plan, the sand-filling of Boeng Tamok lake, and a road expansion project in the capital’s Russei Keo.
A soldier fatally shot a man on a Phnom Penh sidewalk after joining police officers in chasing an alleged thief, police said.
U.N. secretary-general António Guterres will discuss the climate emergency at the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, while a new coal-fired power plant lights up Sihanoukville.
Female filmmaking trainees are speaking out about alleged sexual harassment at a Bophana Center training program — including inappropriate conversations on field trips and touching they felt uncomfortable with — saying they don’t want it to keep happening to other women.
Hundreds of hectares in Mondulkiri were sold to a major tycoon’s family for as low as 600 riel per square meter, a government document suggests, and is facing protests from existing residents.
Defense lawyers demanded the judicial police identify where Facebook comments used as evidence were posted from, in order to show they were really made by defendants in an ongoing opposition mass trial.
Workers say their scam companies moved before and during police raids of compounds, allowing businesses to escape the law — and some workers to escape detention.
An elderly lobby group is asking the government for free health services and financial support after retirement.
Indonesian nationals rescued from a Phnom Penh scam compound say they were targeting Facebook users every day to cheat them out of thousands of dollars. Most are relieved to have gotten away from the criminal work and threat of violence that hovered over them.
Officials have ordered the owners of about 57 souvenir and restaurant stalls near Angkor Wat to take down their stands and leave the complex by Friday, but vendors petitioned for relocation inside the park.
A Vietnamese man jumped from the second story of a Bavet city building and died trying to escape a compound on Tuesday, but it was not “detention,” police said.
CPP Ratanakiri lawmaker Bou Lam died on Monday of chronic illness, said a National Assembly spokesperson.
A Land Ministry official said development of Boeng Tamok in northern Phnom Penh was a higher priority than the water body’s preservation, adding that only a lake like the Tonle Sap was worth preserving.
The Ratanakiri Provincial Court has dropped forest-clearing charges against four indigenous forestry activists after a crime was not found, according to a rights group supporting the activists.
Candlelight Party commune officials in Prey Veng’s Svay Antor district said ruling party chiefs are not assigning them any work.
The website of human rights group Licadho was temporarily hacked, while the three Kampong Thom military police officers have been charged with manslaughter for a death in custody.
The Appeal Court upheld the conviction of nine people from two activist groups and the disbanded CNRP, who were convicted for incitement for their participation in protests following the arrest of prominent unionist Rong Chhun.
China Nationalist Party lawmakers in Taiwan have asked their government to do more to assist citizens trapped in scam operations in Cambodia, as rising reports of trafficking and forced labor push local legislators and governments to act across the region.
Protesting NagaWorld workers were able to breeze past police barriers usually set up to block them and were allowed to resume their protest outside the casino complex, as a visiting UN official observed them.
At least 13 former CNRP activists who were convicted in March for their involvement in the formation of the overseas CNRM opposition movement and for comments about the Covid-19 response appealed their sentences at the Appeal Court on Tuesday.
A train hit a car in Pursat province with no parties injured; four opposition parties unite to push reforms at the National Assembly, NEC and Interior Ministry.
Over 300 vendors from O’Russei Market in central Phnom Penh petitioned Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday to intervene to reduce their stall prices amid persistent economic effects of the pandemic.
The family of a Kampong Thom deputy village chief, who allegedly died in custody last week, has asked for a speedy investigation into the death, with around a dozen officers being questioned last week.
A Phnom Penh court tried former CNRP president Sam Rainsy in absentia for a 2013 video showing the opposition leader promising to uphold the rights of indigenous minorities residing in Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, Stung Treng and Kratie.
The NagaWorld protests again turned violent as workers tried to move police barricades blocking them from getting to the casino complex, with one worker left with a bloody nose after the tussle.
Kem Sokha’s treason trial hearing on Wednesday was cut short by a judge after the prosecution and defense lawyers disputed each others’ behavior and tactics in court.
Officials introduced new plans to combat human trafficking in response to the U.S.’s decision to drop Cambodia to the lowest ranking in anti-trafficking efforts, in a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Sar Kheng.
Former CNRP commune chief and leaders were sentenced by a Phnom Penh court, while two Thai women appealed sentences for smuggling drugs.
Eleven Kampong Thom military police officers have been detained for an investigation into the death of a deputy village chief that occurred during a crackdown at an alleged online lottery cafe, said the provincial military police commander.
A prominent union leader has been warned for allegedly forcing NagaWorld casino workers to continue their protests, with the Labor Ministry letter threatening “punishment” if she continued her “illegal activities.”
The Forestry Administration issued a statement justifying rampant razing of Phnom Tamao forest, claiming the forest was inconvenient and a new zoo will be built in exchange.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday sentenced a senior Kampong Chhnang police officer to four years in prison for illegally clearing flooded forests around the Tonle Sap lake between 2011 and 2021.
Phnom Penh officials said they will begin reconstructing a road that collapsed into the Tonle Sap River in Chroy Changva district earlier this year, another instance of the riverbank collapsing due to erosion.
Police are preparing inspections of all foreigners’ accommodations to look for criminality and illegal migrants after the U.S. dropped Cambodia to its lowest rank for human trafficking, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said.
The Anti-Corruption Unit closed its investigation into a Kampong Chhnang ex-governor whose vast tracts of protected flooded-forest land were confiscated amid a crackdown on illegal encroachment.
Kratie residents sold cows and took out loans in a frenzy to invest in a get-rich-quick scam run by a local man claiming to be from a development NGO, losing tens of thousands of dollars before they detained the man themselves and handed him over to police, according to local officials.
A Phnom Penh Candlelight official was assaulted on Sunday and sustained a serious head injury, with CCTV footage showing potentially six assailants.
Nine Chinese men stood trial on Monday for alleged crossed-border drug trafficking to Australia and New Zealand.
Dozens of Boeng Tamok residents staged another rally near their lakeside shacks Thursday to protest looming evictions by the vanishing body of water.
Village residents in Siem Reap have sued four environment department officials for alleged destruction of property and encroachment, an allegation made last week against them and military officers.
Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested for shooting and injuring a police officer in Sihanoukville last night, while the city saw a second roadside shooting around 1 a.m., according to police.
The army’s Region 4 has been accused of using nature protection to grab Siem Reap land, while Koh Kong villagers protested the questioning of a representative.
The Anti-Corruption Unit is looking into a complaint by an environmental group alleging irregularities in the privatization of forest land at Phnom Tamao in Takeo province.
A Vietnamese man died at a Bavet casino run by a Hun To associate, while 22 Indonesians were rescued from a few locations around the border town, police said.
Amid U.S. reports alleging Cambodia is giving space to the Chinese military at the Ream Naval Base, Defense Minister Tea Banh on Wednesday inaugurated construction on a major ship-maintenance facility there.
O’Smach commune was the exception to the ruling party’s near-sweep of Oddar Meanchey province in 2017. Even the sitting CPP commune chief admits: “People here think differently. If they have a problem with their leaders, they want to change them.”
Ongoing casino workers’ protests diverged slightly from its usual routine on Wednesday as the demonstrators were able to rally outside Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino for around 20 minutes before being forced on buses and taken away.
The Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that the Candlelight Party’s appointment of vice president Son Chhay earlier this year failed to follow the party’s own procedures.
A Kandal province factory is continuing to refuse to reinstate workers whom it fired as they were trying to start a union, and workers now want to take up the issue with the factory’s international clients.
The top NGOs registered to observe next month’s commune election have evident links to state officials — one headed by a prime minister’s son, another by a deputy prime minister, and a third by a ministry’s secretary of state.
Two ambiguously worded letters from CPP Phnom Penh members calling for polling station staffers to attend training have sparked concern from opposition parties saying the letters appeared to be inviting NEC officials to receive ruling party guidance.
If the Cambodia Reform Party were to win commune positions, it would work to empower the grassroots and ensure there is no corruption in the delivery of public services, said party founder Ou Chanrath. He had to contest this election because an uncontested ballot risked turning Cambodia into a “second China,” he said.
Labeled a “great achievement” for Cambodia’s post-pandemic recovery, the country’s biggest goldmine also exemplifies some of the challenges facing indigenous communities seeking to protect traditions. “It’s something very dangerous to lose culture, lifestyle and traditional practices,” one Bunong lawyer said.
Election campaigning will kick off on Saturday for the two weeks ahead of the June 5 vote, during which parties will be allowed two rallies per contesting commune as long as they stay within boundaries and give three days’ notice.
Prime Minister Hun Sen asked supporters to tolerate a shoe thrown at him in Washington, but pondered why U.S. officials didn’t respond to a violent action.
A sexual harassment trial against the publisher of the Khmer Times newspaper was held in absentia at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday morning after neither defendant T. Mohan nor a defense lawyer appeared for the hearing.
Phnom Penh police are investigating the death of a woman who fell from the 22nd floor of the Prince Central Plaza building early morning Monday in an incident that has shocked nearby vendors and residents.
The ongoing Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam were only the second time Cambodian athletes competed at the games in kickboxing, and the fighters had to learn to avoid using their elbows and knees — as they were trained in another sport, local martial art kun khmer.
A Phnom Penh factory shut down, fired all workers, failed to pay compensation, and began moving valuable equipment to another factory nearby, workers allege.
The opposition Candlelight Party told candidates to carry on competition against the ruling party amid lawsuits and disqualifications at a party congress on Sunday.
Cambodians abroad can vote in their country’s elections at embassy voting booths like Thai and Philippines nationals, suggests CEROC president Sophoan Seng.
A group of people have taken to social media wearing tax department uniforms and are suspected of attempting fraud, the department said on Thursday.
Candlelight commune chief candidates from Koh Kong and Pailin provinces have asked courts to delay proceedings into complaints filed against them, which the party has called intimidation tactics.
Cambodian authorities were tight-lipped over a raid in a Sihanoukville compound, but it was busy with police work and people gathered in its courtyard last week. Videos emerging amid the operation suggested Vietnamese nationals were waiting for rescue.
The watchdog group within World Bank sister organization International Finance Corporation (IFC) will assess a wide swath of the Cambodian microfinance sector after accepting a complaint alleging these lenders’ practices have caused social harms, civil society groups announced today.
Four women activists say they joined the frontline of Cambodian demonstrations after witnessing different injustices, finding both stresses and pride in their work.
A former CNRP official sentenced for allegedly taking part in gatherings to support exiled leaders of the former opposition group on Wednesday morning appealed what he called an unfair conviction.
A wildlife protection group says it is concerned by potential plans to clear hundreds of hectares of forest in a wildlife sanctuary for development.
Prime Minister Hun Sen wants health officials to consider relaxing mask mandates. The NEC released final commune registrations, with the CPP the only party to contest all 1,652 communes.
Unvaccinated travelers will only have to quarantine for one week, while the Tourism Ministry announced $275 million in New Year travel revenue.
Defense lawyers for treason-accused opposition leader Kem Sokha will ask foreign country representatives to appear in court and answer questions about allegations that Sokha conspired with foreign powers.
Retail at the facade of Angkor Wat is changing, as vendors transition from hawking at traditional shop stalls to an organized but stricter shopping center.
A group of convicted plotters appealed their sentences on Wednesday, arguing that an electronic device portrayed during their trial as a bomb detonator was insufficient evidence that they had violent plans.
A British man’s Cambodian wife said in court on Wednesday that her previous testimony accusing him of molesting their 13-year-old niece had been given out of jealousy and she now wanted justice for him.
A police official in Siem Reap province who is believed to have slipped into a crocodile pool when he got up in the middle of the night died from his injuries Tuesday afternoon, according to police.
A leader in a Malaysian political party estimated there are more than 300 of her country’s citizens still trapped inside online scam operations in Cambodia, as recently rescued Malaysian nationals began returning home.
Cambodian National Heart Party founder Seam Pluk is at a “safe place” as police investigate forgery charges, while a land activist fled a death threat.
Anger erupted in an Oddar Meanchey village as three youths aged 15 to 18 were arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl during the night after a New Year village dance party, police said.
About 200 factory workers protested on Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Blvd. for about an hour Tuesday morning after they learned that their struggling factory had removed valuable equipment from its premises.
Local police claimed soldiers were on holiday, not shooting at patrollers in a Kampong Speu community forest, as residents allege they were again targeted by soldiers last week.
Millions traveled around the country this New Year holiday as provincial officials and hospitality workers spoke of being surprised by larger-than-expected crowds returning for the first time in three years.
Police are investigating the suspected murder of a 17-year-old girl after she was found dead in a stream over the weekend with scars on her body, local authorities said.
Community forests and a timber company overlap on the land east of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, leading to competing interests and allegations of impropriety.
Within days of a rape allegation surfacing against a district police chief in Banteay Meanchey, the provincial police has issued a brief statement that it “completely denies” the “public confusion.”
Traditional games and dances, three major concerts, performances on the river, golf and boxing competitions — Siem Reap is bringing back the Sangkran festival next week, with one organizer expecting more than 1 million participants over five days.
Kampot education must build a “culture of gratitude” with a photo of Prime Minister Hun Sen in every classroom and a daily routine of bowing to it and giving thanks for the roofs under which students learn, the provincial governor has said.
Cambodian students are failing at Khmer language and Math at significantly higher rates post-pandemic — with bigger drops for boys and city dwellers — an official survey has found.
A former doctor in Pailin is facing two lawsuits after becoming head of the Candlelight Party in the province.
Activists who served jailtime delivered a petition to the Russian Embassy asking for peace in Ukraine, signaling their intent to continue speaking out.
The floating communities in Phnom Penh have been allowed three more years on the water, but the majority ethnically Vietnamese families say they have few options on Cambodian land.
The opposition Candlelight Party has been entirely stripped of candidates in 11 communes, but the national elections body is now done removing nominees for the June election, a spokesperson said on Monday.
NagaWorld protesters have entered a brief hiatus on protests until renewed labor negotiations this week, as social activists filed a petition with two ministries calling for an end to authorities’ violence against strikers.
Cambodian provinces could begin easing requirements to wear Covid-19 face masks, Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested in a speech on Monday, citing costs for people and the reality that many gatherings are already taking place without masks.
Every two days, a doctor comes to visit Heng Sophy to clean the acid burns covering her face, chest and arms, allegedly given by a husband who threw acid at her in mid-March after years of harassment.
After a Banteay Meanchey woman was charged for killing her husband, local police say they knew he abused her, providing an insight into domestic violence and lacking intervention methods.
The stalemate between NagaWorld executives and laid-off workers continued as a fourth negotiation meeting at the Labor Ministry failed to deliver a resolution.
More than a decade after they were put on halt, international adoptions are in the process of resuming, with adoptions pending to the U.S. and Italy, a Social Affairs Ministry official said on Tuesday.
Phnom Penh City Hall issued a statement insisting that images and videos shared on social media depicting authorities using violence on protesting NagaWorld unionists are “fake news.”
Four of five union negotiators returned to a meeting with NagaCorp and the Labor Ministry on Wednesday afternoon — all but union leader Chhim Sithar.
A video report alleging a Battambang timber factory was illegally processing luxury wood has landed a local journalist in court.
The mother of a 13-month-old girl has complained that a Siem Reap police officer bit and abused her child, according to provincial police.
NagaWorld union representatives said they will not attend the third negotiation meeting to resolve their dispute on Wednesday because the casino corporation refuses to discuss reinstatement of workers.
NagaWorld union leaders said the casino company was reluctant to discuss their demand for reinstatement of around 200 laid-off workers on Monday, as protestors continued to get detained over the weekend.
Japan hopes to continue “friendly” visits to Ream naval base, a spokesperson said; a mass trial of at least 40 defendants associated with the CNRP resumed Monday.
The National Election Committee has delisted 11 candidates for the June local election from two opposition parties, allegedly because they were illiterate.
Meanchey and Chamkarmon districts have started cleaning sewage systems last week, days after environmental activists identified seven locations in three districts where trash had clogged these canals.
Hundreds of people across three provinces and Phnom Penh gathered for protest this week, seeking official intervention for their respective challenges.
Union leader Chhim Sithar said she might have compromised too much in a letter made public this week asking workers to stop protesting to resume negotiations, which had been met with “disappointment” by union members.
In Kampong Speu, a forest-dwelling monk hoots to mimic animals’ cries and talks of living in harmony with nature. But the community forest where he lives has been handed to the military, and nearby residents are camping among the trees to protect the land.
At least eight NagaWorld workers were released from prison Monday night, according to local rights groups, hours after letters from them requesting bail were made public.
Eight jailed NagaWorld workers, including union leader Chhim Sithar, sent letters to the Labor Ministry asking its intervention to get them bail and called for their colleagues to suspend the strike to enable negotiations, according to the ministry.
Murders, kidnappings, corpses on the beach — news reports out of Sihanoukville paint a picture of violent and serious crime in the coastal city. But authorities are increasingly shutting down information about police work and pressuring journalists over negative stories, crime reporters say.
Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng is expected to head a high-level meeting on Wednesday to discuss the nearly three-monthlong NagaWorld protests.
Public and official attention on gender issues in Cambodia has followed a boom and bust cycle: Viral cases of abuse lead to temporary political goodwill, with little sustained progress. But citizens’ voices can move powerful people, writes researcher Theang Soriya.
A web of powerful interests surrounds sites of trafficking and forced labor in Sihanoukville: Its notorious “Chinatown” area is dotted with businesses linked to prominent tycoons and high-ranking officials; another heavily guarded compound is owned by a ruling-party senator.
In Kampong Speu’s Sre Ken village, an 18-year-old’s alleged murder of his stepfather was met with sympathy. “Nobody disliked him,” a resident said of the 18-year-old. “But mostly we wished [the stepfather] would die.” The older man had been suspected of using black magic.
Daily Covid-19 cases hit 500 on Monday as Phnom Penh officials set off to remind restaurants to keep up health precautions on Valentine’s Day evening. No significant changes in health measures have been announced so far.
Cambodia has opened its arms to foreign businesses through special economic zones, which offer investors space, tax incentives and relatively cheap labor. As such zones expand, unions are trying to access the factories behind SEZ gates, as labor compliance sometimes falls by the wayside.
Kampong Speu resident Sam Sokha — who spent four years in prison for throwing a sandal at a CPP billboard — paid about $2,500 in court fines on Thursday and will not have to return to prison, said a court prosecutor.
Under a white and yellow tent in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district, female dancers clad in traditional attire danced as part of a blessing ceremony at the party congress of the beleaguered royalist Funcinpec party.
Three NagaWorld protesters who were arrested on Saturday have been charged for obstruction under the Covid-19 Law. Three U.N. rapporteurs said they were concerned over the killing last November of a CNRP activist in Phnom Penh.
Global unions and federations expressed their support and protested the arrest and termination of NagaWorld workers on Monday, as daily rallies came to a halt after authorities ordered all workers to isolate for seven days.
UPDATED 9:52 p.m. — At least two NagaWorld union members have been arrested Saturday evening, according to police, following Covid-19 testing of more than 200 protesters.
Police blocked NagaWorld strikers from leaving their daily rally late Friday afternoon, saying they needed to be tested for Covid-19. An earlier positive test for a woman — who said she has not attended the protests since January 15 after finding out she was pregnant — led to a strong health response on Friday.
The sale of cosmetics is booming online. But the Health Ministry is routinely alerting the public of the risks of unregistered products that have not been tested for their toxicity, while medical professionals warn of long-term risks.
The government continued its land privatization drive by allocating more than 400 hectares of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok to businesspeople and the National Election Committee, leaving little of the lake.
The U.N. raised concern about the upcoming national internet gateway, while the World Bank urged Cambodia to shift economic policies to diversify and become more productive.
Salt flats workers say they are barely earning enough to keep their children in school, fueling fears that they will have to pull their children from school — much like their parents did decades ago.
The Grassroots Democratic Party has promised to cut down the number of ministries and bureaucrats to cut costs in a new policy document released ahead of the commune elections.
In a monologue debating against unnamed analysts, Prime Minister Hun Sen dismissed criticisms that Cambodia was not fully at peace due to ongoing social injustices.
Three community representatives involved in a long-running dispute with the energy minister’s wife were taken into police custody over the weekend in relation to a separate dispute, residents said.
On paper, the protected biosphere reserve around Tonle Sap lake is a flooded forest. But across vast tracts in Kampong Chhnang, there are only rice fields or uncultivated wetlands, bare of any substantial trees. Decades of encroachment have only accelerated in recent years.
Five Banteay Meanchey farmers appealed their five-year prison sentences over encroachment of nearly 2,000 hectares at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, though major elements of the case remained unclear even during the appeal.
An outburst quickly turned into apology in a Siem Reap constituency where a deputy commune chief was not elevated to run for the chief position in the June local elections.
CNRP leader Kem Sokha’s defense team argued in court on Tuesday that the prosecution’s repeated use of video evidence did not prove the charge of treason and was only prolonging the trial.
An Interior Ministry official said Cambodia was studying foreign interference laws, pointing to Cham invasions of ancient Cambodia, while a human rights advocate worried about “color revolution” labels.
A French Appeal court indicted senior Bodyguard Unit generals Hing Bun Heang and Huy Piseth for their involvement in the 1997 grenade attack targeting a Sam Rainsy rally.
Speculation has been rife about whether the resumption of Sokha’s trial — nearly two years after it was stopped due to Covid-19 — signaled an imminent political deal that could see the former CNRP president return to politics.
Nine of the 10 trucks that enter one Takeo village daily are still dumping trash in a 1 hectare field, despite a deal struck earlier this month between the district and company to first incinerate everything in a furnace, residents said.
Currently, five Cambodian ambassadors are women. Those like Pech Puthisathbopeaneaky, who is general consul in Hong Kong, are at the frontiers of equitable foreign policy, changing perceptions of diplomacy as a man’s job, writes Marie Kepler.
The Interior Ministry said an international lawyer assisting CNRP-linked Seng Chan Theary had damaged Cambodia’s honor when attending her trial. The lawyer says he was only attending a friend’s trial hearing.
As a treason trial against former opposition leader Kem Sokha resumed on Wednesday after a delay of nearly two years, lawyers attacked each other over the postponement, while the defendant said he had believed a reconciliation was in the cards.
International labor groups criticized NagaWorld’s “long-standing failure” to respect workers’ rights and authorities’ “undue interference” of a legitimate strike, as one representative said the groups would bring the dispute before the ILO and Asean, and affiliated workers overseas would also look to exert pressure.
Less than five months to commune elections, the ruling CPP and minor opposition parties are pointing to agriculture as key planks of their agendas, many echoing a desire to increase investment in farms and “find markets” for exports.
A woman sentenced for 16 years for trafficking women to work in Malaysia appealed her sentence on Tuesday, while a Takeo prosecutor urged the Appeal Court to issue heavier sentences for two men convicted of raping their under nieces.
A recording between reformed ruling party celebrity Thy Sovantha and former CNRP South Korea leader Yin Sinorn is old and not related to the court’s decision to drop Sinorn’s charges, he said.
Som Sophea witnessed NagaWorld grow from a cruise ship to a sprawling casino complex. The company recognized her for two decades of service, but fired her during year 26. One month into a labor strike, Sophea says she wants respect for longtime employees.
After almost two years of break, VOD looks back at coverage of former opposition leader Kem Sokha’s trial for alleged attempts to topple the government with foreign assistance.
The Mekong river endured three years of drought and its lowest-ever water levels due to minimal rainfall as well as the actions of upstream hydropower dams, which had spillover effects for the Tonle Sap lake and Cambodia’s fishing industry that relies on it, according to a new report.
NagaWorld workers started submitting petitions to embassies, asking 14 foreign delegations to monitor rallies and raise the labor dispute and unionists’ arrests to high-level Cambodian officials, as participants say they’re experiencing strike fatigue.
A two-star police general and two associates who were sentenced to 18-months in prison for having drinks during the Covid-19 lockdown last April pleaded for sentence reductions at the Supreme Court on Monday.
While a government news agency touted Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar, Singaporean and Malaysian officials were unsettled by the Asean chair’s interaction with the military regime.
Active employees of NagaWorld on strike are getting phone calls from the casino asking them to return to work. Audio recordings of the calls heard by VOD reporters have casino management calling it the “last call.”
The Supreme Court has asked a lower court to reconsider a seven-year prison sentence handed to a former military police officer who was convicted for killing a person outside a mini-mart in Phnom Penh.
His brother and mother were understanding when he came out, but some friends told him to change. For Kamsort, 23, the teasing questions have become tiresome. He says a gay marriage law will help change mindsets, as Rainbow Community Kampuchea embarks on a campaign for change.
A Chinese businessman wanted a child in 2017 and paid a Chinese company to find him a surrogate. The surrogate, who was in Cambodia, gave birth to the child. But after the businessman arrived here to receive the baby, he was arrested for trafficking and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Appeal Court on Tuesday upheld one-year jail sentences against two former opposition activists for incitement and insult after they criticized the distribution of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines in Cambodia before they were approved by the WHO.
Alleging renewed large-scale illegal logging, environmentalists around the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary said authorities should take action to stop deforestation before it was too late, just as officials had reclaimed 60,000 hectares of protected flooded forests around the Tonle Sap lake.
NagaWorld union members admonished the Labor Ministry during an impromptu press conference on Monday, accusing labor officials for disregarding calls to release jailed union leadership as a precondition to restart negotiations.
The Health Ministry announced fourth-dose Pfizer booster vaccinations for select groups starting Friday at national hospitals.
Even with top union leadership imprisoned on incitement charges, the NagaWorld labor strikers who continued their protest this week have shown no signs of backing down. Part of that comes down to basic scheduling.
Protesters in Myanmar have turned their ire against Prime Minister Hun Sen by bombarding his Facebook page with abusive comments and burning images of him as he visited the country on Friday.
The CPP has long heralded “Victory Over Genocide Day” as the second birthday of the country after the dark rule of the Khmer Rouge. But the lack of a public event on a day also branded as pro-Vietnamese hints at changing politics in addition to Covid-19 precautions.
Hun Sen is set to meet with Myanmar’s military junta leadership on Friday even as pressure mounts on the Cambodian prime minister to refrain from taking unilateral actions as the chair of Asean.
NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar spent the days before her arrest getting the people around her ready. “The most concerning is my mom’s feelings. She might get sick, but sorry, mom, that will not stop me,” she said of not backing down. “They worry but they know what I’m doing is the right thing to do.”
A press conference Tuesday morning at the Phnom Penh Municipal Police headquarters about NagaWorld workers’ arrests barred reporters from several news organizations, including VOD.
UPDATED 6:03 p.m. — Just before 4 p.m., Chhim Sithar was arrested by police officers on National Assembly Road, outside the Australian Embassy, as she entered barricades cordoning off the workers’ rally.
The government is in debt to the Ly Chhuong construction company due to a series of infrastructure projects given to the company without a bidding process, with payments deferred in a “build first, settle later” racket, the prime minister said.
Striking casino workers resumed their protests outside Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino this afternoon following the arrests of 10 people on New Year’s Eve, as police appeared to make several immediate arrests again on Monday.
Authorities arrested a ninth NagaWorld union members late Friday, with authorities and armed security personnel attempting to make more arrests but were prevented by casino workers who formed a human shield to block officials.
Police have detained at least eight NagaWorld union members on the evening of December 31, nearly two weeks after the casino workers’ union initiated a strike against alleged unfair dismissals and violations of the Labor Law.
Fishers say their daily catch has plunged again. According to researchers, disturbances to Mekong water flows due to hydropower dams and climate change have disrupted fish habitats, breeding grounds, abundance and diversity.
As accusations of forced labor and confinement at scam operations across Cambodia come to the fore, two Thai nationals spoke to VOD about how they were detained and duped into scamming other people at sites in Poipet and Sihanoukville.
As a strike at Phnom Penh’s monopoly casino enters its second week, NagaCorp will take into consideration the workers’ demand to reinstate nearly 300 employees, including top union leaders, a union representative said on Friday.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s eldest son and deputy military commander will be the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s next prime ministerial candidate when his father decides to relinquish power, the party decided on Friday, according to the Information Ministry.
Ruling party also expected to choose two new vice presidents, possibly hear members of recently proposed, younger cabinet-in-waiting.
As the mass trial of CNRP officials continued Thursday, National Police investigators called to testify repeatedly tried to avoid answering basic questions about how they built a case against defendants, claiming the process was “technical” and that revealing it could jeopardize national security
The second day of negotiations between NagaWorld union organizers, the management of the Hong Kong-listed company and Phnom Penh city officials ended with no results as workers wrapped up a fifth, foggy day on strike in front of the casino complex.
On Wednesday, a judge rejected appeals from two plaintiffs and four defendants imprisoned through their connection to the failed biofuel venture headed by British businessman and alleged fraudster Gregg Fryett.
A CNRP member and one party activist appealed their incitement and insult convictions at the Appeal Court on Tuesday, after they were convicted in July for comments made about Covid-19 and vaccines.
Military police officials arrested 12 individuals linked to a robbery at the home of an online cosmetics seller in Phnom Penh, with local media reports identifying small party founder Sok Sovann Vathana Sabung as one of the arrested people.
Accusations of foreign influence made against a local casino workers’ union mirror rhetoric deployed by government officials over the last few years to justify charges of treason, foreign interference and of a purported color revolution against the political opposition, activists and civil society groups.
Breaking its silence, NagaCorp released a statement on Sunday and claimed that a workers’ strike in Phnom Penh, which has lasted three days, would not affect the casino’s operations.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday announced the “end” of the February 20 community transmission, which has resulted in more than 3,000 reported deaths, even as the Omicron variant of the virus registered two more cases in the country on Sunday.
Cambodian civil society figures say they have had limited to no interaction with Facebook over the past few years, despite the social media platform claiming it has a network of NGO contacts in the country.
Around 200 workers have resumed their strike against alleged labor rights violations and mass terminations at NagaWorld casinos in Phnom Penh.
Nagaworld’s union called for an investigation into a Facebook account that accused the casino workers’ union of being backed by foreigners and said these claims were fake.
Casino workers returned to protest outside NagaWorld 1 on Sunday but have been blocked by local authorities who have barricaded all streets leading to the casino.
A former Cambodian consul general to China was convicted of money laundering Friday morning for purchasing and not declaring a condominium in Phnom Penh, adding to an existing prison sentence for corruption-related offenses.
A lawyer representing two former Cambodia Daily reporters was hopeful the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court would uphold a lower court decision to drop incitement charges against them after a prosecutor said there was no new evidence to reinstate the charges.
Just one of 13 summoned defendants was present at the fifth hearing in a trial involving more than 40 former opposition members charged with plotting and incitement, as questioning again fell into a familiar pattern about links to the CNRP and overseas trainings.
Following Prime Minister Hun Sen’s command two weeks ago to stop the Tonle Sap’s destruction, provincial governors say they have retaken thousands of hectares of protected flooded forests but are still working on investigating perpetrators.
Eighty tons of ketamine precursors have been found following a fatal shootout and seizure of 1.4 tons of the drug that led authorities to a Kampong Speu lab, where a prominent agroindustrial company said it was merely leasing facilities within the same compound.
With their case reaching a French appeal court today, a Bunong community says their claims to land are in contention, while villagers say debt and wage labor are supplanting their traditions.
An international rights group has criticized the local Australian Embassy for participating in an event involving the military’s Brigade 70, which has been accused of being part of a grenade attack in 1997 against Sam Rainsy, among other alleged rights violations.
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the military to inventory all U.S.-origin weapons currently in use and to either store or destroy them, a quick reaction to the U.S. placing an arms embargo on Cambodia.
The United States was not against engagement with Myanmar’s junta, said a senior State Department official Friday evening, though it had to be a “purposeful” engagement.
Prime Minister Hun Sen added further intrigue over his plans to transfer power to his son by calling for a CPP congress in late December to select a “successor” and to approve future cabinet members.
An Interior Ministry employee, jailed for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government with the CNRP, pleaded his innocence on Thursday and reaffirmed his “love” for the government, as a Phnom Penh court resumed a trial against opposition members.
The United States imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia for alleged rights violations and increasing Chinese military influence in the country, specifically targeting a military intelligence unit run by the prime minister’s son.
Prime Minister Hun Sen doubled down on plans to visit Myanmar in January, insisting that he wanted to return the Asean regional block to 10 members and for that he needed to deal with the junta-led government.
The funeral of Norodom Ranariddh, the first prime minister of Cambodia, passed smoothly Wednesday morning with pomp, circumstance and little participation from the public.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Tuesday posted an unsigned letter to his Facebook page supporting any CPP decision on the party’s next prime ministerial candidate, but did not explicitly name Hun Sen’s son and heir apparent Hun Manet.
As Prime Minister Hun Sen mounts bilateral talks with the Myanmar junta, analysts are skeptical a so-called “win-win” approach will find any traction amid Myanmar’s post-coup turmoil.
Families from Kandal’s Ampov Prey commune protested outside the commune hall demanding that they receive compensation for communal land that is now being used by the new Phnom Penh international airport development.
Sar Kheng has not endorsed Hun Manet as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s likely successor, making him the lone holdout among the 10 deputy prime ministers. His nine peers have all signed onto public statements of support for Hun Sen’s eldest son.
Two CNRP mass trials involving dozens of defendants are set to be heard at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court this week after being delayed by the “February 20” Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year.
The king will light the fire for late Prince Norodom Ranariddh’s cremation Wednesday after funeral ceremonies for the former prime minister.
Hundreds of congratulatory messages supporting Hun Sen’s decision to anoint Hun Manet as the next prime minister flooded Fresh News, including letters of support from cabinet ministers down to district governors.
A Thai lawyer assisting detained Cambodian monk Bor Bet said Thai officials had indicated that they would not immediately deport him and that he was still in immigration detention.
In his most clear comments about succession, Prime Minister Hun Sen said his oldest son and army commander Hun Manet would take over from him, while shooting down any chances of rumored prime ministerial hopeful and Interior Minister Sar Kheng’s ascension.
Bor Bet urged Thai authorities to respect his refugee status. He asked his supporters to remain resilient and that he had not lost hope.
Kem Sokha’s comments stirred a flurry of speculation and commentary online, with armchair political analysts in and outside the country trying to make sense of what this meant for the CNRP — once the most credible political threat to the CPP’s stranglehold on power.
Four defendants linked to British businessman Gregg Fryett appealed their prison sentences and fines on Tuesday, claiming that they had nothing to do with the forgery of documents.
Hun Sen launched into a tirade on Sunday against alleged “anarchic deforestation” along the Tonle Sap lake, even ordering the use of the “infantry, navy, and helicopters” to crackdown on land grabbing and encroachment.
Omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa earlier this month, has shown signs of quickly spreading through populations. The WHO was notified of the variant on Wednesday based on a sample collected in South Africa on November 9.
“Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are not the same person,” Sokha’s Facebook post said, asking that Rainsy and his colleagues stop using him to push their campaigns.
Funcinpec leader and former prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh died Sunday morning, according to the Funcinpec Party, capping off a turbulent political career that coincided with the country’s emergence as a fledgling democracy in the early 1990s.
While Licadho wanted platforms like Facebook to provide more access to safety features for Khmer-language users, the tech giant said these services were already available to Cambodians.
Mondulkiri has been a hotbed for illegal land grabs and land speculation. Interior Minister Sar Kheng in October warned local officials from engaging in land grabs and corruption.
Court documents show that Botha was arrested at the Phnom Penh International Airport in September 2016 after traveling from Brazil to Cambodia, via Dubai and Thailand. He was found with nearly 600 grams of cocaine in his stomach.
An imprisoned man who has maintained his innocence for nearly a decade after being convicted for the murder of his uncle again denied the charge against him during his retrial Thursday morning at the Appeal Court.
Military police say they caught a man who confessed to killing a CNRP youth activist outside Chroy Changva’s Wat Chas over the weekend, but questions remain over the accused’s motive.
ABA Bank suffered widespread outages in its services on Thursday, especially its popular mobile and payment application, after a scheduled system upgrade went awry Wednesday night.
A group of young Cambodian women and diversity movements is highlighting a wide range of gender violence and equality issues over a 16-day campaign using surveys and social media storytelling.
NagaWorld workers and union leaders who have refused to accept termination are planning rallies and urging a strike next month, vowing to continue until the casino company’s management addresses their current and unsolved grievances.
Military police spokesperson Eng Hy said Cambodian and Thai authorities had rescued 103 Thai nationals from a Pursat province special economic zone on Tuesday morning and brought the individuals across the border on Wednesday morning.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday he would deal with “extremists” – a thinly-veiled reference to the CNRP – before considering handing over power to the “younger generation.”
A former CNRP commune chief was extradited from Thailand and sent to pre-trial detention over an incitement charge, despite having being recognized as a refugee.
Poor students were forced to find work to help their families through the pandemic. Now that schools have reopened, some may never step into a classroom again.
UPDATED 2:45 p.m. — An opposition activist was killed around 1 a.m. Sunday in Phnom Penh, with a witness saying she saw him running from near Wat Chas as assailants slashed his body with a sword.
Police rescued a woman from a quarantine center for Try Pheap’s Special Economic Zone in Pursat on Wednesday night. But she had merely wanted to leave “because it was too quiet,” an official said, without answering why police intervention was needed.
A remote, city-like compound owned by U.S.-blacklisted tycoon Try Pheap is housing online scam operations of thousands of workers rife with forced labor, detention and unexplained deaths, trafficking victims and rescuers allege.
In a rejection of a provincial leader’s push for hardline monitoring of journalists, the head of the Ministry of Information this week denounced the arbitrary detention of two reporters and urged authorities to more closely cooperate with media workers.
Fourteen opposition activists and members, many of them arrested early last year over Covid-19 posts and private conversations, were denied bail during a hearing this morning.
Residents react to the fourth anniversary of the dissolution of the country’s main opposition party, the CNRP.
Dozens of families in a Kandal village have been marked for eviction to develop Phnom Penh’s new international airport, and have petitioned Prime Minister Hun Sen complaining of the state’s compensation offer that they say is a mere 10th of market prices.
Three raids in Sen Sok, Boeng Keng Kang’s Street 302 and a condo on Koh Pich netted nearly 86,000 pink ecstasy tablets, 155,000 grey tablets and 50 kg of powder.
Poipet health workers are accusing the director of a referral hospital of siphoning money meant for Covid-19 salaries by listing employee names as falsely working on Covid-19 treatment.
A man convicted of murdering his neighbor in Preah Vihear province pleaded with the Supreme Court to acquit him, with his defense lawyer saying there was no physical or DNA evidence to tie him to the murder.
UPDATED: Citing around $2 million in unpaid penalties, the courts announced that the outlawed CNRP’s former headquarters would be placed on sale. “The CNRP HQ is the symbol of democracy for the majority of the people of Cambodia,” Mu Sochua responded.
Alongside piles of wood are huge bales of multicolored fabric scraps. A long chimney shoots out from the roof of a Kandal brick kiln, and has elicited the ire of some villagers who say it releases noxious smoke.
Prime Minister Hun Sen dropped quarantine requirements and overnight PCR tests upon arrival for all vaccinated travelers from Monday, going beyond Thailand’s reopening to dozens of countries early this month.
Chinese nationals, as young as 15 years old, are being trafficked and forced to work in online gambling and scam companies in Sihanoukville, according to pleas for help sent to a group of Chinese volunteers that rescues victims of human trafficking in Cambodia.
Cambodia aspires to reduce 42 percent of its expected 2030 emissions not through stopping coal-powered energy but with trees. More specifically, the country will offset a majority of the total emissions it releases through Redd+.
Over the past week, increasing pressure on Cambodia coincided with the suddenly approved release of at least a dozen political prisoners.
Friday afternoon saw the release of prominent unionist Rong Chhun, Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy and a reduction in sentences for six other activists, who will be released soon.
Human Rights Watch said the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees had intervened after Voeung Samnang and Voeun Veasna’s arrests, and both men were registered refugees under UNHCR protection.
Khmer Thavrak activist Hun Vannak and CNRP activist Pen Chan Sangkream were released from Prey Sar Prison, and Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy is also expected to be released today.
Unionist Rong Chhun, two CNRP activists and one political party leader had their prison sentences reduced by the Appeal Court Friday morning. All four could be released soon.
Two journalists arrested for covering a Kampot land protest were released on Thursday after being detained earlier this week, while three others who were part of the land dispute were released from detention.
On patrol in Keo Seima, community members clash over deforestation and chainsaws. At the front line of a multibillion-dollar global climate-change program, Mondulkiri’s volunteer patrollers say they feel powerless as their reports of logging are ignored.
Opposition CNRP activists Voeung Samnang and Voeun Veasna were arrested by Thai authorities in Bangkok this week and handed over to Phnom Penh authorities, confirmed a government official on Thursday.
The activist was arrested during protests in 2020 against the arrest of unionist Rong Chhun, who was arrested for claiming Cambodia was ceding territory to Vietnam.
Overnight, the U.S. sanctioned two more Cambodian military figures, announced a review of Cambodia’s trade benefits, and warned U.S. businesses of exposure to rights-abusing, criminal and corrupt Cambodian entities, as the country had made “no meaningful changes” to repeatedly raised concerns.
Environment Minister Say Samal made no commitments to achieve net-zero emissions at the Wednesday session of the COP26 Climate Conference.
Two journalists from Los Seng News, who were arrested for filming a land dispute in Kampot, made a public apology on Wednesday but were then sent to court for further questioning.
Forest activist Chorn Phalla was convicted to five years in prison on Wednesday for illegally clearing forestland in Ratanakiri province.
The Appeal Court ruled that CNRP activist Pen Chansangkream’s 18-month jail sentence would be reduced to 10 months and 20 days, but that he will remain under probation for three years.
As mega-developer OCIC completes the filling-in of Phnom Penh’s new island, Koh Norea, nearby Chbar Ampov residents are staring at a mound of sand anxiously unsure if they will be evicted by the development or driven out by real estate speculation.
Cambodia was among a minority of countries who did not sign a pledge to conserve and expand its forested ecosystems at COP26 last week despite forest loss being the country’s highest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The boy, released to a throng of journalists and supporters outside Correctional Center 2 on Wednesday morning, knelt down in front of his mother to pay respects before hugging each other and receiving a bouquet of flowers.
According to a provincial police report from Tuesday, four suspects were arrested on Sunday in Chhuk district’s Trapeang Phlaing commune for violence against the owner of a property and incitement, calling it a red-handed crime.
Lao Annie, who heads several real estate companies in Cambodia, according to company records, said on Tuesday that she was “shocked” when she read news about all the important people who had land near her in Preah Sihanouk.
More than 300 trafficked Cambodian women were returned from China in the first nine months of the year, mostly after being scammed into marriages, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Hundreds of Phnom Penh families protested in the capital on Monday, highlighting two ongoing and long-standing disputes in the city.
Chhay Loeum, a Cambodian migrant, was rounded up by police from Thailand’s Labor Ministry along with seven other workers making an appeal over unpaid wages. Rights advocates say the incident illustrates the Thai government’s broken promises and indifference to one of the most vulnerable groups in Thai society.
Eng Malai is the sixth activist to be released since Friday, with two of her Khmer Thavrak colleagues, Hun Vannak and Chhoeun Daravy, expected to be released this month.
Prime Minister Hun Sen took serious umbrage to criticism his government has faced for filling lakes throughout the country and justified the moving around of ministries through land swaps.
Weddings in Phnom Penh with up to 200 guests will be reallowed starting today, while KTVs and discotheques are set to reopen from November 30.
Despite the cordial tone in his Facebook post, Hun Sen said earlier in the day that there was speculation the Australian foreign minister would pressure Cambodia during the visit but that he would not allow that.
The 16-year-old son of Kak Komphear was jailed in June over digital messages he sent on Telegram criticizing the government. He was sentenced last week for incitement and insult to four months and 15 days in prison.
Their defense lawyer, Sam Sokong, said that while the activists have completed their reduced sentences for the earlier incitement charges, they’re now being held in pretrial detention for the additional plotting charges.
Nguon Nhel, the first vice president of the Cambodian National Assembly, died Friday morning at Khmer-Soviet Hospital in Phnom Penh.
All five activists were arrested last year in relation to protests in support of jailed unionist Rong Chhun, who had issued a report that Cambodia was ceding land to Vietnam
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced two men to eight-month suspended jail sentences over their involvement in unlicensed clinics in Phnom Penh, where authorities found genitals stored in bottles.
The exact amount of compensation is confidential, but it is equivalent to the gross profit that ANZ earned on its loan to Phnom Penh Sugar, said a representative for Inclusive Development International.
Sixty-six houses are marked for measurement to make way for the airport construction, according to a letter issued by the Kandal Stung district governor. The survey would collect data on affected families in preparation for compensation.
Courts in Phnom Penh and Ratanakiri had a flurry of cases and appeal hearings this week, some of which were delayed without reason. Here is a roundup of five cases from Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Workers with disabilities say the construction of a national disability center has ruined access to their wheelchair workshop in Kandal province.
King Norodom Sihamoni signed into law constitutional amendments mandating that Cambodians with dual citizenship were disqualified from occupying four senior government positions.
Across Cambodia, energy drink marketing is inescapable. The sugar-packed drinks, linked to stress, aggression and poor health, are advertised for their health benefits. This is misleading and threatens health, writes Future Forum research fellow Sorn Sovannara.
Two-star general Soy Chansoeun was denied bail Wednesday by the Supreme Court for allegedly beating up and confining a woman in January. The defendant’s lawyer described the altercation as a “little clash”, a characterization the judge rejected.
Cambodia’s Energy Minister declared last week that Cambodia would not build any new coal-fired power plants, but the announcement appears to have little or no impact so far on Cambodia’s current plans for developing coal-fired power plants through 2030.
Hundred of tons of fabric used in Cambodia’s garment industry ends up as waste, which then either ends up a landfill or is used to fuel other businesses, such as brick kilns.
Hundreds of Khsach Kandal district residents are enraged about a small group of brokers who have promised to “restore” a lake with few details about their plan and local officials claiming to know nothing of the issue.
Kem Sokha has been looking to sell his Phnom Penh villa since 2020, said a close colleague, with plans to move to the city’s outskirts or to a different province.
Kratie city’s military police chief has been charged for alleged torture, violence and death threats against two 12-year-old girls working at his house for purportedly causing the death of his puppy, while another officer was charged with intentional violence.
Increasingly used as a laser-focused tactic, a weapon to intimidate, instil fear, and paralyse the work of journalists, illegal surveillance puts sources at risk and impedes journalists from providing us with information to expose crime and corruption, and to speak the truth about power.
Kem Sokha, Cambodia’s ex-opposition leader still awaiting the resumption of his treason trial, has put his six-bedroom Toul Kork district home on the market for $2.4 million.
Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the reopening of the country at a vaccination event on Monday, and did not detail if there would be further relaxing of existing quarantine measures but said he was considering lifting restrictions on “high-risk” businesses.
Prasac Microfinance Institution claimed to the Supreme Court that a critical Facebook video was defamation against it, while the defendant claimed he was telling the truth about a bad deal.
Chim Phan is one of few Cambodian athletes with a disability who have represented, and continue to represent, the country at international para-athletic events. The athlete has had a long career and hopes to retire soon. He is 52 years old.
More than 200 officers demolished dozens of Phnom Penh houses to make way for the $2-billion Sihanoukville expressway, part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, as residents rejected what they said was inadequate compensation.
The conference generally pitches wealthy, high-emitting and highly-industrialized nations against low-emitting and less-industrial countries, especially those in the Pacific Islands that first feel the strain of rising water levels and temperatures.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed an eight-month sentence to a teenager, whose father is an imprisoned CNRP activist, and suspended the sentence to four months and 15 days.
CPP official Kong Kheang was arrested and charged with incitement and defamation this week for making serious allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Chea Sophara.
NagaWorld built its business — which earned more than $1.7 billion in yearly revenue before the pandemic — in part through the CEO’s use of his offshore companies and a series of loans that lifted the casino company’s value, according to documents and emails released in a major leak of offshore enterprise documents.
VOD identified nine offshore companies connected to Cambodian nationals or Cambodia-based business owners in the sweeping leak of offshore company files known as the Pandora Papers. A deeper look at the business history hints at further connections to powerful individuals for some of the companies included, while others are little-known.
The investigation is based on a leak of confidential records of 14 offshore service providers that give professional services to wealthy individuals and corporations seeking to incorporate shell companies, trusts, foundations and other entities in low- or no-tax jurisdictions. The entities enable owners to conceal their identities from the public and sometimes from regulators. Often, the providers help them open bank accounts in countries with light financial regulation.
Thousands of families have been evacuated from along the swollen Prek Tnaut river in southern Phnom Penh. As evacuees huddle up in tents set up on roads at the edge of floodwaters, many speak of getting little help even as the flooding gets worse year by year.
The three remaining districts — Chroy Changva, Prek Pnov and Daun Penh — will commence their booster-shot campaigns on Saturday at nine locations.
Siem Reap province, which is typically the country’s leading travel destination, is not yet part of the Tourism Ministry’s “vaccine tour” program but will be included with other destinations in early 2022 as the country reopens further.
The draft legislation would scale down operations of the hybrid court, which officially commenced in 2007, with a transition period of two to three years.
A Cambodian man says he was not involved in drug production — a charge for which he was convicted in 2017 — and wants the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction based on testimony from a co-accused who said he was not part of the operations.
A representative of 241 families involved in a land dispute with a prominent developer in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district was arrested and sent to Prey Sar Prison on charges of trespassing and illegally destroying property.
VOD Weekly UpdateOctober 20-27 Features Kuy Villagers Reclaim Preah Vihear Sugar Plantation Residents were in dispute with Rui Feng since 2012, when communal lands were
The trucks are not carrying sugarcane. There is no sugarcane for kilometers. Instead, the cleared land is filled with rice paddy ready for harvest. Kuy villagers in Preah Vihear are moving back onto plantation land from which they were once evicted.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has promoted 25 people to be his official assistants, including a bodyguard who has received land on Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok lake and another who was nearly scammed online by a 14-year-old.
A dispute with two Chinese-owned telecommunications companies — delicensed by the government last year — is headed to an international arbitration body, government documents show.
Youth activists and former opposition members were convicted for incitement on Tuesday morning for their participation in protests last year calling for the release of jailed unionist Rong Chhun.
In Cambodia, mental health workers say they’ve seen a spike in adolescents seeking help. Surveys have shown bouts of anxiety and depression among young people. The recent reopening of schools could be a relief, but it might not be an easy transition.
Kampot governor Mao Thonin held a public forum to address citizens’ grievances, mostly stemming from land disputes in the coastal province, with the governor coming highly recommended for his ability to resolve land conflicts.
The sister of disappeared activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit was summoned to a prosecutor’s office on Monday. Though it’s a first for Sitanan, criminal prosecution has become a routine reality for hundreds of Thais taking a stand in the country’s pro-democracy movement.
Bankruptcy is a seldom used legal provision in Cambodia, even though it has been part of regulations since the passage of the 2007 Law on Insolvency. This issue is most likely seen in the media in the context of garment factories going bankrupt and selling assets to pay creditors and employees.
A Chinese national serving a seven-year sentence for organizing illegal surrogacy argued on Monday that he was just staying at a friend’s house and didn’t know why there were dozens of pregnant women there.
Direct flights from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are allowed again, the Health Ministry announced over the weekend, though it is still unclear when flights will resume.
Salt fields on lucrative Kampot coastland are being promised the backing of a new governmental working group to aid in competition against Thai and Vietnamese imports, but salt farmers are skeptical.
The Thai government on Thursday announced that vaccinated arrivals from 46 countries, including Cambodia, will not have to undergo quarantine starting November 1.
The symbolism used to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements is one of reconciliation. But the road to that moment was long, more than a decade in the making and intertwined with tectonic shifts in the geopolitical arrangements that helped usher in the Khmer Rouge in the first place.
Anniversaries of the Paris Peace Agreements were not always prominent affairs. Largely overlooked by local newspapers until the landmark 20th anniversary, the day rose in visibility and contentiousness alongside the emergence of the popular opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, a look through newspaper archives shows.
The Education Ministry has announced that schools of all levels will be reopened from November 1 with health precautions remaining in place, expanding on the reopening of high schools last month.
Provincial police chief Sith Los said the two suspects, Sin Sao Sun, 36, and Kao Chhong, 35, were arrested on Monday and Tuesday for illegal detention, extortion and human trafficking.
A Siem Reap district police officer is under investigation by provincial supervisors after an anonymous letter alleged he was extorting illegal gambling establishments and his subordinates.
Prime Minister Hun Sen granted the Interior Ministry permission to sell 100 hectares of Boeng Tamok lake that it was granted earlier this year so the ministry can fund a reconstruction of its existing office building.
The spiraling descent exploded into public view this week when supplements seller Srey Knhong took a new tack to solve her financial problem: file for bankruptcy to escape all the debt, then ask her fans to donate money to bring her back to riches.
A Battmabang man initially convicted of killing his wife and sentenced to life in prison denied the murder and asked the Supreme Court to release him and find the real killer.
Sitanan Satsaksit is being summoned in Thailand for violating the country’s Covid-19 laws by speaking about her brother Wanchalearm’s disappearance in Phnom Penh and the ensuing investigation.
Twenty-five years after Brother Richie Fernando’s death, the floor tiles in Kandal marked by the grenade blast that killed him have been relocated. But the Filipino missionary, who has been touted for sainthood, is still remembered for his acts of kindness.
Cambodia’s head start in vaccinations has the potential to give its embattled tourism sector a leg up amid the imminent reopening of travel. This is an opportunity to diversify the country’s offerings, writes La Trobe University research fellow Markus Bell.
The government’s e-visa portal announced the resumption of tourist visas starting October 19, signaling the state’s intentions to kickstart the tourism sector, which has languished for the last 20 months of the pandemic.
An Appeal Court hearing for three jailed Mother Nature activists on Tuesday had heated exchanges between the defendants and prosecution, as the environmentalists defended their activism.
Sok Kimly, 45, was previously found guilty of two attempts on her boyfriend’s life in 2015 and 2016. But on Tuesday, the Supreme Court overturned her conviction in the first failed assassination, involving a gun, and sent her second case — a grenade attack in central Phnom Penh — for retrial at the Appeal Court.
The documents, released on Monday and all signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, are dated between August 4 and September 2 and continue the recent flurry of land privatization across the country
At least 373 migrants have been detained in under two weeks during 12 raids on Cambodians crossing into Thailand, a sign of demand for work and confusion over Covid-19 border rules, a labor group said.
Starting Monday, vaccinated arrivals from abroad will only have to quarantine for seven days, with even shorter times for some groups, a document issued by the Health Minister says.
Amid a call to save heritage buildings, a survey of Phnom Penh sites found volleyball courts in a French colonial police station, smartphone billboards wrapped around historical architecture, and a family of teachers keeping watch over a former U.S. Embassy building.
The six stops, some only for a few hours, followed a similar pattern: A suit-clad Sar Kheng arrived at the provincial hall, did the performative handing over of the provincial seal, then proceeded to give a speech before zooming off to the next inauguration ceremony.
Floodwaters are rising on a small group of Chroy Changva residents who say they have suffered two months of unprecedented flooding after officials filled a nearby canal earlier this year.
The country’s daily Covid-19 case count reflects the number of patients who are symptomatic, said a Health Ministry spokesperson, suggesting that those who are positive and asymptomatic are not included in case numbers.
The outlawed opposition party is attempting to disrupt the upcoming commune elections in 2022, alleged Interior Minister Sar Kheng, calling for local officials to be vigilant.
UDG, a massive Chinese-owned, U.S.-sanctioned development in the coastal province, has been embroiled in disputes with residents for years, with more than 1,000 families forced off about 10,000 hectares, and 1,500 houses dismantled and cleared, according to past research reports.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng advised Mondulkiri’s new governor and his officials to stay away from corruption after 10 predecessors were implicated in illegal land grabbing, even as at least half of those 10 remain in their jobs.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday afternoon delayed announcing a verdict against a CNRP activist’s 16-year-old son, who is charged with incitement.
The provincial administration told VOD no payments should have been asked of families of the Covid-19 dead, and police were now investigating the case. It also noted in a statement that more than half of the province’s Covid-19 corpses had yet to be cremated.
A production company run by local tycoon Leng Navatra is pulling a music video that shows people dressed as schoolgirls carrying weapons after it was criticized on social media.
A woman convicted of masterminding a 2016 grenade attack in central Phnom Penh targeting her cheating boyfriend made an appeal at the Supreme Court that she had only sought for him to be threatened.
An anti-logging activist was on Tuesday convicted of assault against an alleged timber trader, as rights groups linked the verdict to ongoing harassment and intimidation against environmentalists in the country.
Phnom Penh kicked off a third-dose vaccination drive this week with close to 100 locations across the city where residents who are fully vaccinated can go and get a shot of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.
Long boats will not race down the Tonle Sap in front of the Royal Palace this year after the government decided to again cancel the annual Water Festival. The announcement coincides with the start of a third-dose vaccine campaign in 11 capital districts.
Drug cases are continuing to fill the courts as sentences heard on Monday ranged from three and a half years for a man caught with 1.29 grams of meth to 26 years for a Chinese national convicted of production.
Almost $1 million in compensation remains to be paid out and a perpetrator has yet to see jail time over a Kampong Cham scam that ensnared 180 families, the Supreme Court heard on Monday.
Cambodia’s one-party government is pushing ahead with a Constitutional amendment to ban individuals with dual citizenship from holding top positions in government, purportedly to avoid foreign interference and as a sign of devotion to the nation.
Weeks after a 2019 European parliamentary election, Kalwaryjski and his boyfriend moved from the city of Poznan to Berlin — joining a growing number of LGBT+ Poles who have fled homophobia at home by settling in the German capital.
As the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in August, images of glamorous models adorning beauty parlours were painted over — in some cases by business owners fearing reprisals.
“People like to come to wish for good luck,” Sok Chea says. “If they want to sell their property, like land, they will come to wish to make a deal happen sooner and to get a good price for their land.”
Nino, a 25-year-old lesbian from Georgia, no longer feels at ease when she leaves the house. Since violence forced a Pride march to be cancelled earlier this year, she is afraid of being verbally abused or chased in the street.
When Douglas Latchford died, he left unresolved a tantalizing question: What happened to the hundreds of stolen items he had traded? The answer lies in part in previously undisclosed records describing secret offshore companies and trusts that Latchford and his family controlled.
Three in four people living in the world’s 20 major economies believe nature and the Earth’s climate are approaching potentially abrupt or irreversible changes due to human action, according to a survey.
As Africa’s No. 2 economy seeks to break its near-total coal dependence, climate experts say Mpumalanga could serve as a test case for developing nations seeking to cut emissions while also benefitting their people — a so-called just transition.
Six entertainment workers told VOD of forced pregnancy tests, pressure to terminate and the experience of self-induced abortions while trying to hold onto jobs. As the women experience potential trauma, the motivation among employers often comes down to superstition: Pregnant women are “four-eyed girls” bringing bad business.
“I feel ashamed and anxious all the time. My partner left me and even my family won’t talk to me. I thought it was a safe and private way to make money, but virtual sex ruined my life,” said Otieno, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.
A Sihanoukville casino has seen a Covid-19 outbreak of more than 200 cases and turned into a makeshift quarantine center, where authorities denied workers’ claims of forced labor.
The Supreme Court heard three cases on Friday morning, where lawyers grappled with unclear evidence and information, and raised more questions than were answered during the hearing.
Cambodia saw a sharp decrease in Covid-19 cases after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a scaling back of rapid testing, as Siem Reap province ended QR code scanning at its borders and Preah Vihear lifted its red zones.
Making sure that all children receive quality education in Covid-19’s “new normal” will require changes in mindset, new soft skills and consideration of economic, political and cultural dimensions, writes educator Neak Piseth.
Prime Minister Hun Sen instructed provincial officials to be more judicious in the use of rapid Covid-19 tests and to test only those who exhibited clear symptoms of the disease, according to an audio clip sent by the prime minister and heard by VOD.
At least 100 cases of Covid-19 have been reported at a Preah Sihanouk special economic zone since Sunday, with officials downplaying the outbreak which they say is smaller than previous transmissions.
A Koh Kong journalist was sentenced to a year in prison for incitement on Thursday — without a lawyer and just two days after being questioned by police — over a report that the deputy governor was “cruel and abuses citizens.”
Two former CNRP officials were arrested on Wednesday – one from Preah Sihanouk and the other from Phnom Penh – and have not been released as yet.
Yim Sinorn, who stepped down as president of the CNRP in South Korea in June, submitted a letter dated Wednesday to Hun Sen asking that authorities drop all charges against him and his colleagues.
Some 1,333 families in Koh Kong are being offered 1 to 3.5 hectares each over a decade-old land dispute with the Union Development Group, as some families say they reject the deal and will fight to stay on their old land.
A teenager whose father is an imprisoned former CNRP member was tried on Wednesday for incitement and insult, giving contradictory answers and having his mental health questioned — and dismissed — by court officials.
The association last week issued a statement condemning lawyer Phan Chansak’s actions. The lawyer had posted in a Telegram group called CLO Opinions, “Sell 1 ballot for $1,000,” the association said, without specifying when the message was posted.
As of Tuesday, residents in 38 communes were affected, according to the committee. Two health centers and 26 schools were also flooded, while 25,223 hectares of rice was inundated, it said.
Ung Ratana, director of the Ratanakiri provincial health department, said that as of Tuesday, more than 200 positive cases had been found at the Phat Dao plantation out of about 1,000 workers.
Preah Sihanouk authorities have issued a statement that hotels and casinos that detain, traffic or sexually exploit workers can have their business licenses revoked and cases sent to court.
The Phnom Penh and Kampong Thom courts on Tuesday delayed expected verdicts against members of activist group Khmer Thavrak and a Prey Lang environmentalist charged with attempted murder.
An audio recording, shared with VOD, appears to show Defense Minister Tea Banh instructing Koh Kong officials to take action against journalist Youn Chhiv. Several government-aligned media outlets have reported on Banh’s instructions, including some that quoted from the recording.
Higher education institutions will be allowed to reopen after 18 months of disrupted learning, with the Education Ministry setting out guidelines such as mandatory vaccinations, Covid-19 testing and smaller classes to ensure social distancing.
Chbar Ampov residents are complaining about real estate developer Borey Peng Huoth filling in their farmland, an area they say was previously in dispute with the late Suy Sophan’s Phanimex company.
The new wage was voted on after four rounds of weekly negotiations between unions, which initially suggested a $22 raise; employers, which wanted to see the minimum wage cut by $4; and the Labor Ministry.
The royalist Funcinpec party fired three senior officials after they filed a complaint with the Interior Ministry alleging that a former wife of party president Prince Norodom Ranariddh took and misused the party seal.
Siem Reap officials say they are seeing a drop in Covid-19 cases in the city after 10 days of red-zones in some communes and villages, while working to meet food shortages amid restrictions.
Cambodian tourism business owners expressed cautious optimism over the prime minister’s plans to entice foreign travelers back into the country and resuscitate the sector’s fortunes.
Four suspected traffickers have been arrested and sent to court after Preah Sihanouk police found 36 Thai nationals illegally working at a casino, officials said, while denying that the workers had been confined against their will.
Three Commerce Ministry officials have been accused of corruption by a Banteay Meanchey transport company owner for asking her to pay informal fees to transport goods across the border.
A former Pailin governor and a real estate developer have received land that was formerly designated as state forest but had already been cleared, cultivated and sold by individuals, local officials said.
About 10 community members patrolled O’Reang district’s Sen Monorom commune on Wednesday and found about 100 hectares of the sanctuary and 12 hectares of community forest being cleared by machinery
The two-week Pchum Ben festival has been postponed this year two days into the holiday due to large gatherings and the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Observers say the process of compensating evictees in development projects needs to be cleared up to avoid increasing mistrust, poverty, fear and injustice among the population.
Chab Yem, 74, says she hasn’t seen her son since authorities arrested and defrocked him more than a year ago. She lives in Siem Reap province, and Koeut Saray is now in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar Prison.
“People who come during Pchum Ben bring food, some money, especially onsom cake. I feel happy. Even though it’s Covid-19, it’s OK. We take precautions like wearing masks and using alcohol spray. This feels comfortable.”
Cambodia’s economic growth this year is expected at 1.9 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 4 percent, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday, as services continued to contract amid Covid-19 disruptions.
A big piece of a so far untouched area in the middle of Boeng Tamok lake has been granted to the Interior Ministry, while businesswoman Say Sorphea — understood to be the wife of a high-ranking Brigade 70 military official — has received a further two plots on the lake.
Some 276 garment factory workers, mostly women, were injured in traffic accidents in the sector’s notoriously dangerous commutes on the backs of trucks in the first half of this year.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday decided to drop an arrest warrant against Thailand-based social analyst Seng Sary after Prime Minister Hun Sen made the suggestion in a Facebook post on Monday.
Nine airport protesters jailed last week have been released on bail by the Kandal Provincial Court, with a family member saying they were being pressured to accept the compensation on offer and stop protesting.
Environmentalist Chhorn Phalla has been arrested by Ratanakiri police after they called him in to update the address on his identification card, his lawyer said.
A l’bokator master’s wife is compiling her late husband’s writings into a book; pagodas are opening their gates to Cambodia’s ancient, spirituality-infused martial art; and officials are looking for world-heritage status and pushing a modernized version as an Olympic sport.
After more than 200 protesters blocked National Road 5 between Pursat and Kampong Chhnang provinces on Sunday, provincial authorities said they would go to the Interior Ministry to try to resolve the land dispute.
Backtracking from a warning made Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asked the courts to consider dropping an arrest warrant against Thailand-based political analyst Seng Sary, saying he now understands the analyst’s comments as acceptable.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned two political analysts over criticizing the government’s foreign policy, one by name and the other by saying there was already a warrant out for his arrest.
A Phnom Penh resident made a public confession and apology for allegedly insulting traffic police officers in a video posted to social media platform TikTok.
New research shows that hundreds of tons of plastic is carried away daily from Phnom Penh along the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap rivers, choking critical waterways and hurting aquatic life and human well-being.
Between official documents, residents’ accounts and visible evidence of filling, reporters have found five seafilling projects on the Kampot coast — some of them spanning hundreds of hectares. Affected fishers have been told there could be twice as many in all.
Cambodian workers are increasingly looking to illegally cross back into Thailand for work, a labor rights group said on Thursday, after a report showed more
En Soth and Yous Sophorn were jailed last month under Covid-19 charges of obstructing the enforcement of health measures and face up to three years in jail. They were both previously fined around $1,000 each under Covid-19 regulations for organizing a protest against the proposed compensation.
Four land activists in a long-running dispute with the Energy Minister’s wife say they were questioned by prosecutors at the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court for attempted murder after trying to prevent illegal fishing in the area.
Prime Minister Hun Sen did in fact enter a CNRP Zoom call uninvited last week, he said on his Facebook page Thursday, but only to remind the “traitors” that he would not negotiate with them and to stop insulting him.
Banteay Meanchey officials have forwarded allegations of rape against a deputy village chief to the provincial court, a local official said Wednesday.
While students were meeting friends and reconnecting, most expressed two major concerns about returning to school: their parents’ reluctance to let them return, and whether they had learned enough in the last year to meet the challenges of a new grade.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday waded into the ongoing dispute between investors and investment firm GoldFX — which is linked to senior CPP officials’ family members — asking investors to continue their negotiations or file a lawsuit.
Seng Sovannara was removed from his Justice Ministry position in 2019 following accusations that he had taken control of 990 hectares in a wildlife sanctuary and threatened indigenous Bunong villagers to hand over 472 hectares of their land.
Nine Kandal villagers arrested at a protest on Sunday have been charged with intentional violence, obstructing public officials and incitement under aggravating circumstances.
Children aged 6 to 11 will be vaccinated in the next phase of Cambodia’s inoculation drive in order to reopen primary schools in the country, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday.
Piseth was named winner of the Orizzonti best actor award on September 11 for his role in the White Building movie, an honor he hopes will help him find more opportunities in the Cambodian film industry.
Villagers said 21 of 30 people arrested at a protest against the new Phnom Penh airport in Kandal were released Tuesday evening, with nine others charged with violence.
Widely shared video and audio clips seemingly showing Prime Minister Hun Sen gatecrashing an opposition CNRP Zoom call to lecture the outlawed party are digital fabrications, a ruling party spokesperson said.
Fourteen foreign nationals are being treated in quarantine and later will be sent to the Sihanoukville Provincial Court for allegedly possessing firearms, kidnapping one individual and extorting money, according to provincial authorities.
As schools begin to reopen across the country, principals talk of splitting classes to keep classes small and safe, while parents and teachers say there will be a lot of catching up for students.
The teenager, whose family says he has autism, was arrested June 24 over online messages that allegedly insulted public officials. His father, Kak Komphea, has been repeatedly jailed for participating in opposition politics.
Provincial governor Va Thorn said on Monday that authorities had gone to investigate the area, in Chet Borei district’s Chang Krang commune, and found encroachment on about 500 hectares.
As Cambodia hit 100,000 recorded Covid-19 cases on Monday, Phnom Penh residents spoke of facing repeated disruptions over 20 months and how, for many, the future remains clouded with uncertainty.
A citizen journalist was detained on Monday and later released after filming a police station and preparing to interview family members of 30 Kandal villagers arrested in a land dispute over Phnom Penh’s new international airport.
In a speech inaugurating a new Phnom Penh stadium on Sunday, which came during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Hun Sen reiterated the bonds of “steel” between China and Cambodia.
In a statement issued Sunday, Kandal provincial administration said that around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday airport protesters brandished sticks, threw stones, used rubber slingshots, hurled gasoline, insulted officers and burned tires.
Around 30 people were arrested in one morning amid violence, villagers and local officials said, as unrest around Phnom Penh’s new international airport development project in Kandal province continued to escalate.
A NagaWorld union representative said the Arbitration Council refused to adjudicate on the validity of the mega casino’s decision to layoff more than 1,300 workers, with a labor advocate saying the council wants a labor inspection procedure to decide the matter.
Hun Sen’s adviser, Duong Dara, posted online that officials need to stop filing fake reports on land disputes to the prime minister, while also lecturing a VOD reporter about journalism when asked about his Facebook post.
A Ratanakiri military police official was charged with insult and intentional violence for criticizing the provincial governor and for punching a person during his mother’s funeral last week.
More than 20 families in Koh Kong province, where authorities have been razing villagers’ farmland, are asking officials to formalize their ownership as they fear the land clearings will continue.
Several family members of jailed opposition politicians staged a small rally outside the U.S. Embassy on Friday, aiming to bring attention to the country’s political prisoners.
Ngorn Srey Nich was struck in the head by police officer Mat Pisey on Wednesday night while riding a motorbike with her brother without wearing helmets. Phnom Penh Municipal Police said Pisey was arrested and sent to court, but Srey Nich demanded more justice.
Fish are scarce again and wells are running dry, Siem Reap fishers say, as some measurements track the Tonle Sap at another record low this year.
Phnom Penh City Hall announced Thursday it will allow public and private secondary schools to reopen starting Wednesday, September 15, potentially ending nearly 18 months of on-and-off schooling for the capital’s students.
A Phnom Penh court has convicted and sentenced seven former opposition activists in absentia for Facebook posts accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of hiding Covid-19 deaths in 2020 and other posts about his time as a former Khmer Rouge district commander.
The government has allocated three plots totaling nearly 100 hectares in Kampot, Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces separately to the prime ministerial bodyguard unit, a businesswoman and 22 families, according to sub-decrees released this week.
Phnom Penh City Hall once again extended Covid-19 preventative measures for two weeks until September 23, including restrictions on alcohol, bars, massage parlors, gyms and gatherings over 15 people.
