Kampong Cham Monk Reinstated After Arrest for Covid-19 Violation
A Kampong Cham monk chief was reinstated after being arrested and defrocked last week for allegedly violating Covid-19 measures.
Nhim Sokhorn Sep 6, 7:02 pm
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A Kampong Cham monk chief was reinstated after being arrested and defrocked last week for allegedly violating Covid-19 measures.
Following hundreds of arrests, at least 102 people are facing court charges for Covid-19 violations, including more than a dozen put on trial without a lawyer after the accused chose to represent themselves in their misdemeanor cases, according to court officials.
Amid Cambodia’s worst Covid-19 outbreak to date, provinces outside the cluster’s urban epicenters of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville are keeping a close watch on arrivals, hoping to prevent the disease’s spread across provincial borders.
In a former political bastion of Kem Sokha, president of the outlawed opposition CNRP, silence prevails over political discussions — though some ex-supporters quietly betray continuing hope for the opposition’s promise of change.
At least a dozen CNRP supporters were questioned in the Kampong Cham Provincial Court this week over incitement allegations, while three former party officials were handed suspended sentences over forestry crimes in Pursat province, according to lawyers.
Nearly 30 former opposition party members from Kampong Cham have been summoned to appear in the provincial court over accusations of incitement, while a former CNRP district councilor for Phnom Penh also faces questioning for alleged incitement to cause serious chaos to social security in the capital.
Farmers in Kampong Cham’s Batheay district say they are struggling to care for their crops after two years of intense drought and sparse rain, which is pushing more people to abandon their fields for factory work or jobs in the service industry.
A former CNRP commune chief in Kampong Cham province was apprehended on Thursday, according to his wife, at least the fourth arrest of an ex-opposition party member this week.
San Sokhom, a military police major in Kompong Cham province and son of the commander of neighboring Kratie province’s military police, has been released on bail despite being charged over making threats with a firearm, officials said.
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