The family of a farmer shot dead by an illegal fishing patrol say they have accepted compensation, but are unhappy as five of six suspects in the case were released.
Po Hin Lean was gunned down in a rice field in the middle of the night this week. The killing likely relates to a heavy-handed police crackdown on illegal fishing. The man’s political affiliations also cast shadows over his death.
Candlelight Party official Hem Chhil was released on bail by the Appeal Court on Thursday, months after he was arrested for alleged illegal fishing in Pursat province.
Across Kandieng district in Pursat, people described living through a crackdown on flooded-forest farming and fishing that seemed inconsistent and designed to intimidate, in several cases becoming entwined with politics ahead of the June 5 commune election.
The Pursat Provincial Court has released an underage son of an opposition activist on bail after a monthlong detention in relation to a charge of using illegal electric-fishing tools.
Authorities responsible for the Tonle Sap lake again held an “emergency meeting” then fanned out across the country’s largest lake after Prime Minister Hun Sen said they had failed to curb illegal fishing.
Volunteer community patrollers along the Mekong aim to stop a rise in illegal electric fishing, which harms river ecosystems and livelihoods that rely on protected fisheries. But the sale of outlawed gear allows the dangerous practice to continue.
A Takeo fisherman who suffered severe head injuries after allegedly being beaten by fisheries officers died at his family home on Thursday, after almost two weeks lying on a wooden bed unable to speak and his family unable to afford treatment.
A Takeo fisherman, who witnesses say was beaten by fisheries patrol officers and is now near death at his home, was about to drown after jumping into the water and getting struck by a propeller, a Fisheries Administration official said on Wednesday.
Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon said every fishing boat in the country will be tracked with E.U.-funded GPS beacons by 2023 in order to crack down on illegal fishing.
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