REAKSMEY KONGKEA

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A 26-YEAR-OLD man was charged yesterday with the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Banteay Meanchey’s Sisophon Town on Friday morning, officials said yesterday. Prum Theng, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection office, said that Khem Khom, an employee for the girl’s family, was detained by the girl’s parents after he raped her at her house. “He raped the victim twice before he was arrested,” he said. In a separate case, a 42-year-old man was arrested yesterday over the rape of 13-year-old girl in Kampong Chhnang province’s Teuk Phos District, district police chief Kim Sareth said. “She was caught and forcibly raped by the suspect while she went to look after her buffalos in the rice fields,” he said.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea AN American doctor has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing two teenage boys. The United States citizen was arrested in the Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district at 9.3am on Friday, said Keo Thea, director of the capital’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Police, yesterday. He said that the suspect had been detained by police and was being questioned regarding the purchase of child prostitution services in Cambodia. “I expect that he will be charged by the municipal court on Monday,” he said. The American, he added, had been arrested following contact with the FBI and a search had been conducted of his home.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Possession of fake currency and an illegal firearm led to the arrest of two Vietnamese nationals on Tuesday night in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. Kong Veasna, an officer of the Phnom Penh Municipal military police, said that Hean Krahan, 66, and Yin Tum, 51, were arrested on Tuesday around 11:30pm in Daun Penh’s Phsar Thmey III commune. When the suspects were arrested, police confiscated a pistol, 18 bullets, US$ 400 in fake currency, US$ 1,800 of legitimate currency and six mobile cell phones, said Kong Veasna. He also added that Heang Krahan was carrying a press card issued by the Ministry of Information that identified him as a reporter for the “The Krong Kampuchea Newspaper,” in Phnom Penh. The two suspects could not be reached yesterday for comment.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea TWO young girls drowned in a canal in Banteay Meanchey province’s Mongkol Borei district on Friday afternoon on the way home from visiting their parents in a nearby rice field, officials said yesterday. Deputy provincial police chief Chan Kosal said that Kunthea Routh, 11, and her 6-year-old sister, Kunthea Neang, drowned in a canal about 400 metres from their house in O’ Prasat commune’s Phnom Prasath village after leaving around midday. “They have sought out their parents, who left home for a long time to work as rice harvesters for people in the same village. As they returned home along the road, they played in the water of the canal and drowned together,” he said. Chan Kosal added that witnesses said Kunthea Routh attempted to help when she saw her sister struggling in the water, but neither could swim. Their bodies were discovered by their parents on the bank of the canal that evening, he said.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea The Court of Appeal yesterday postponed the hearing of convicted Thai spies Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipapatanapaiboon due to their lack of defense lawyers and Thai interpreters. Samrith Sophal, a judge at the Court of Appeal, said that the duo’s appeal hearing, which was set to open yesterday, has been postponed to November 28. “Their case is criminal and [they] must have lawyers to defend them for their hearing. Due to their lack of defense lawyers and interpreters, it is decided to postpone their appealing hearing to November 28,” he told reporters yesterday at the Court of Appeal. Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipapatanapaiboon were not present at court yesterday. They could not be reached for comments. Thai Foreign Affairs spokesman Thani Thongpakdee said the defendants are looking after their own defense and declined to comment further. Pich Vicheka, a former defense lawyer for the two, said that he was not aware of their appeal hearing because he had no...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Kidnappers freed the son of a three-star general yesterday in what his father claimed was a case of mistaken identity that led the assailants to drop a US$500,000 ransom demand. So Akno, the son of Lieutenant General So Phan, the deputy director of the general commissariat of the National Police, was kidnapped on October 8 by a group of armed men who police said then demanded $1 million ransom for his release. But So Phan said having already halved their demand, the kidnappers released his son yesterday at 2 am without extorting a cent from him. “I am very happy, as my son has been released from a group of kidnappers, and he was not tortured or injured. I did not pay any money to the kidnappers,” he said, adding he would not pursue the perpetrators through the courts or police. He denied rumors he had paid US$500,000 to secure his son’s release. But a police official from the Ministry of Interior, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed the reduced ransom had been ...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea TWO young girls drowned in a canal in Banteay Meanchey province’s Mongkol Borei district on Friday afternoon on the way home from visiting their parents in a nearby rice field, officials said yesterday. Deputy provincial police chief Chan Kosal said that Kunthea Routh, 11, and her 6-year-old sister, Kunthea Neang, drowned in a canal about 400 metres from their house in O’ Prasat commune’s Phnom Prasath village after leaving around midday. “They have sought out their parents, who left home for a long time to work as rice harvesters for people in the same village. As they returned home along the road, they played in the water of the canal and drowned together,” he said. Chan Kosal added that witnesses said Kunthea Routh attempted to help when she saw her sister struggling in the water, but neither could swim. Their bodies were discovered by their parents on the bank of the canal that evening, he said.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A MAN fronted a police press conference yesterday and spoke of his role in kidnapping So Kano, the son of So Phan, the secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior. Suth Sophy, 38, said that after So Kano’s kidnapping on October 3, he drove the victim to a rented house in Toek LaakI commune, Toul Kork district. Cambodian-French So Kano was kidnapped while driving a car near his house in village III, Chroy Changva commune, Russey Keo district. The kidnappers demanded US$1 million from his family for his release, but after negotiations, the figure was reduced and So Kano was released for an undisclosed amount on October 23. Suth Sophy claimed to have received US$10,000 for transporting So Kano, but said he had no more involvement with his fellow kidnappers until So Kano’s release, when he was paid. Sear Sambath, chief of the Office of Crime Offense of National Military Police, said authorities spent 44 days investigating and tracking Suth Sophy before arrestin...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea TRUCKS carrying Angkor beer yesterday morning pushed through a fragile blockade formed by “beer girls” trying to garner public support for what they described as an attempt to force the brewer to show more respect to them, as well as the law. Drivers had stopped in front of the more than 30 women who gathered for almost five hours in front of Angkor Brewery’s head office on Norodom Boulevard, but company executives ordered them to push through the group. The women used loudspeakers and banners to draw attention to their protest. They said they were protesting because they could not survive on what the company paid them for promoting its brand in restaurants and nightspots. Moreover, it was also ignoring a June 15 ruling by the Arbitration Council to double the overtime wage they earn if they work on Sundays to $4 a day, they said. The company all but ignored them, sending a single executive out to tell them to disburse because they were getting in the way of cargo...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea American national Phillip Bruce Shepard, 68, was officially charged yesterday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with purchasing child prostitution. Shepard, a medical doctor at Princess Clinic in Phnom Penh, was arrested on Saturday by anti-human trafficking and juveline protection police at his home in Chamkarmon district’s Boueng Keng Kang III commune. Director of Phnom Penh’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile police Keo Thea said Shepard was charged in connection to the sexual abuse of two brothers, 13 and 16-years-old. “He was arrested based on the complaints of the two victims, who claim that they had been sexually abused by Shepard several times, as far back as 2008,” said Keo Thea. “According to our investigation, Mr. Shepard has had sexual relations with several Cambodian boys and young men during his time in the country.” Shepard has been sent to Prey Sor prison where he will await his sentencing while police compile evidence and conduct an investiga...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea THE owner of a Phnom Penh guesthouse was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined 2 million riels (US$500 ) yesterday for permitting drug use and harbouring drug users. The owner of Rasmei Phka Chhouk II guesthouse in Daun Penh district, 36-year-old Prum Sophea, was arrested on March 19 this year, along with 11 others when police raided his guesthouse.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A TEACHER of traditional healing in Banteay Meanchey province was yesterday charged with raping his niece over a two-month period while he was supposedly treating her for a nervous disorder, police said. Serei Sophoan district police chief Rem Vireak said 57-year-old Chhim Phea was arrested on Sunday and then charged after his niece’s parents discovered their daughter was two-months pregnant and that her uncle was the father. The 21-year-old girl had been suffering from a nervous disorder for several years before her parents decided to send her from their home in Svay Rieng province to her uncle’s home for treatment by him. “Chhim Phea was a famous and respected Khmer traditional healing teacher in the village,” Rem Vireak told the Post yesterday. “He had raped her many times while she stayed for treatment at his house and he impregnated her.” Sum Chankea, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said such a crime merited severe punishment.

By BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA A MAN who allegedly robbed a gold merchant was shot and killed by police after a brief stand-off in Kampong Cham province’s Chamkar Leu district. Chamkar Leu district police chief Ed Dara said the alleged thief, Morn March, was shot by police officers after he robbed a gold merchant and tried to allegedly attack police officers with a knife during an attempted arrest. “He was shot dead by police after he tried to use a large knife to attack our officers attempting to make an arrest,” said Ed Dara. Police confiscated the stolen gold and returned it to the merchant at the Chamkar Leu Market.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Two men and one woman were officially charged with illegally operating brothels yesterday by the Pailin provincial court. Police said the suspects, 52-year-old Sim Kieth, 48-year-old In Mao and 38-year-old Choeun Thea, were arrested on Monday in Pailin town when police raided two guesthouse’s being used as brothels. Deputy chief of Palin police Chea Chan Din said 13 female sex workers were taken from the Deum Chhart and Ponnleu Preah Chan guesthouses during the raid and sent to a provincial rehabilitation center. “If the brothel owners are found guilty they will face a minimum of five years in prison,”said Chean Chan Din.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Suspects in the high-profile corruption scandal that has rocked Senate president Chea Sim’s office were questioned in Phnom Penh Municipal Court for a second time yesterday over allegations they repeatedly engineered scams involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Five of Chea Sim’s former staffers were arrested last month on allegations they had used their close connections with the high-ranking ruling party senator to defraud at least 51 companies from across the region on phony humanitarian and infrastructure projects. Chea Sim’s former protocol chief, Pheng Kunthea Borey, and former advisors Chan Kosal and Pornlok Ho were questioned by presiding judge Chaing Sinath yesterday about documents that were seized from their properties, deputy prosecutor Meas Chanpiseth said. “They were asked direct questions related to their accusations. They were also asked to testify about their companies and the documents or materials seized from their houses,” he said Adorned i...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A teenage boy was sentenced in absentia Tuesday to three years in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after being found guilty of raping a 5-year-old girl last year. The 15-year-old convict, who remains at large, was also fined US$1,000. Presiding judge for the court Chaing Sinath said the teenager was charged based on complaints filed by the victim’s mother, which state he raped her daughter on September 25, 2010, in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district. “The court orders his arrest, in order for him to serve his jail term,” the judge said. The attorney for the convicted teenager could not be reached for comment yesterday.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A MOTODOP was found guilty of dealing crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, and sentenced to two years in prison at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. Presiding judge Suos Sam Ath said yesterday 24-year-old Tak Neang had been caught in possession of 79.25 grams of ice outside the gates of the Institute of Technology of Cambodia in Toul Kork district’s Teuk La’ak III commune on March 7. On March 9 he was charged with trafficking by police with trafficking, an offense he had been found guilty of.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A BROTHEL owner was found guilty of harbouring sex workers and providing them food in return for performing sexual services with clients by Phnom Penh Municipal court yesterday. Meach Buny was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally operating a brothel in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac commune last year, presiding judge Sous Sam Ath said yesterday. The defendant had provided between five and eight sex workers with food in exchange for performing sex work and charged the women a 50 percent commission on their earnings, which came from both local and foreign clients, he added. Meach Buny denied exchanging food for sex yesterday and has 30 days to appeal the sentence.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A corruption trial against Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cousin Dy Proem, who is alleged to have paid a US$200,000 bribe to sway favour in a Phnom Penh land dispute, began yesterday. Presiding Judge Duch Kimsorn said yesterday only new evidence would be examined in the court’s retrial of Dy Proem who allegedly bribed an official to issue a fake March 18 Council of Ministers statement awarding disputed land to him in Dangkor district’s Kakab Commune. “This is the second time as the court has conducted the trial for Mr. Seng Yean and Dy Proem over the allegation of corruption,” he said. The man who allegedly received the bribe, former deputy general director of the Inspection Department at the Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relation and Inspection, has also been charged over the allegations. The charges followed a complaint from widow and Phnom Penh landowner Houth Sarom, who claims that unlike 120 other families, she never sold her land to Dy Proem. Long Narin, la...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A MAN was charged with producing pornography and threatening his former girlfriend by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court on Saturday, after he allegedly took nude photographs of her and threatened to post them on the Internet, police said yesterday. Provincial police said Ngen Kumpheak, 26, was charged following a complaint from the parents of his former girlfriend, with whom he had been secretly involved. Yi Sokha, director of the province’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection unit, said the man had taken the photos and threatened his 21-year-old former girlfriend in an attempt to prevent her from getting engaged to another man. Yi Sokha said that Ngen Kumpheak had asked the woman to meet in a guesthouse for one last encounter on November 17, promising to return a platinum necklace that belonged to her at the same time. When she arrived in the room he forced her to undress, then took photographs of her and told her he would upload them on the Interne...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A former Cambodian ambassador to Brunei convicted of stealing more than $US430,000 in connection with money intended for the building of a new embassy office was sentenced in absentia on Friday to four years in prison. Judge Kor Vandy of Phnom Penh Municipal Court said that former ambassador and Funcinpec lawmaker Nan Sy, 48, would also be fined eight million riel, or about $2,000, in addition to the prison term. Ky Tech, a lawyer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which launched the initial complain, said he appreciated the court’s decision. “I think that the court’s verdict is acceptable, and I was pleased as the court has found justice for my client,” he told the Post yesterday, adding that Nan Sy had been expelled from his ambassador position on May 11 after the embezzlement became known. In 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation sent a large amount of money to Nan Sy via the embassy’s bank accoun...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A woman who allegedly strangled her boyfriend to death was officially charged with murder yesterday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after she was arrested on Saturday in the Toul Sangke commune of the capital’s Russei Keo district. The suspect, 30-year-old Sam Sorphea, was arrested Saturday at her residence in Toul Sangke commune after police said she used a piece of nylon rope to strangle her 40-year-old boyfriend, Sok Mao, while he was sleeping. Huy Hean, Chief of the Toul Sangke commune police, said that Sam Sorphea previously lived in Svay Rieng province where she was married to a friend of Sok Mao. However, he said the suspect admitted that Sok Mao and she agreed to run away together to Phnom Penh, where they would be married. “She [Sam Sorphea] decided to kill her boyfriend when she became angry that he [Sok Mao] had broken a promise by refusing to marry her after she ran away from her husband to live with him in Phnom Penh,” Som Sorphea, who is awaitin...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A gold seller was shot dead and robbed of 12 million Riel (US$ 30,000) while driving with her teenage daughter yesterday in Choam Chao commune of Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, said police Choam Chao commune police chief Mam Hor said the victim, Chhuon Theara, also known as Mom, was shot three times in the chest and robbed by a group of five or six men brandishing a gun, while she driving a motorbike to the Olympic Market with her teenage daughter. “She died while she was being sent for immediate medical attention at a private clinic in Dangkor district,” he said. The police chief also confirmed that the teenage passenger was uninjured. “The robbers successfully escaped after firing at the victims and taking the money,” he said. Police have launched an investigation into the whereabouts of the suspects at large.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A Thai woman and five Cambodian men were charged drug trafficking drug use by the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court after they were arrested in O’Chrou commune’s Poipet town on Saturday. Thai national and 34-year-old dealer at a Poipet town casino Chan Lichiphorn was arrested along with five men: Bot Sreang, 37, Sok Hor, 24, Sou Tou, 19, Bot Mao, 32, and Ka Rina, 35, after police discovered 2 packages of amphetamines and drug paraphernalia during a raid upon their residence on Saturday in Poipet town. Chief of Poipet commune penal police Prum Visith said the six suspects are being detained in Banteay Meanchey’s provincial prison where they await sentencing.

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A DEFENCE lawyer acting for the wife of tycoon Khaou Chuly yesterday slammed a high-profile Appeal Court decision to uphold her conviction for attempted murder as having “no transparency”. Seng Chenda’s appeal against her 20-year jail sentence failed on Friday. Along with three accomplices, the 46-year-old had been found guilty of plotting to murder Sun Sotha - Khaou Chuly’s daughter from a previous marriage – at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in February. During her appeal, it was alleged that she was innocent. Her maid Chan Sokha, who is also serving 18 years for attempted murder, claimed that she had overheard discussions between Khaou Chuly and his son about a murder plot – an accusation he strongly denied. Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal Ngeth Sarath confirmed yesterday that all the guilty verdicts had been upheld. “The Court of Appeal has upheld the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s convictions on Seng Chenda and her three associates. They were convicted fro...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A SECOND man was arrested yesterday over the kidnapping of Sau Akno, the son of General Sau Phan, deputy director of the general commissariat of the National Police, police said. Sao Bon, 40, was charged with kidnapping Sau Akno on October 3 and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Sear Sambath, chief of the penal crime investigation office at national military police, said Sao Bon was arrested on Sunday in Kampong Trabaek district, Kandal province. His arrest follows military police detaining and charging Suth Sophy in Sen Monorom district, Mondolkiri province last week. Other kidnappers, including suspected ringleader Nguon Soeur, remain at large. Sear Sambath said six other suspected kidnappers had escaped to France, Sweden and Thailand, while some were probably still in the country. Military police sent Sao Bon to Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday where he was charged and remanded in custody. Sau Akno was kidnapped on October 3, in Chroy Changva ...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A COUSIN of Prime Minister Hun Sen was found guilty in absentia of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison yesterday but remains free in Phnom Penh as a warrant for her arrest has still not been issued. Dy Proem, 49, was found guilty of paying a US$200,000 bribe to the former deputy general director of the inspection department at the Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection, Seng Yean, in connection with a Phnom Penh land dispute in 2008. Presiding Judge Duch Kimsorn told the court that Dy Proem bribed Seng Yean to issue a fake Council of Ministers statement on March 18, 2008, falsely claiming she was the rightful owner of 5 hectares of disputed land in Dangkor District’s Kakab Commune. “Based on proof and witnesses, the court has found that Seng Yean and Dy Proem are guilty,” he said, without explaining why no arrest warrant had been issued. Seng Yean was handed a four-year sentence, also in absentia - though he, too, freely walks ...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Armed robbers shot a woman yesterday and allegedly stole more than $US24,000 from the 48-year-old who ran a money exchange and gold shop in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district. At about 10:15 Chhuon Theara was shot dead while driving a motorbike with her teenage daughter on it by five or six men that staged the robbery, Choam Chao commune police chief Mam Hor said yesterday. ‘ She was carrying a bag with 100 million riel ($US24,557) when someone opened fire. “Three bullets were shot into her chests while she was driving a motorbike and carrying a big amount of exchanged Khmer money,” he said. “She died while she was rushed for immediate rescue at a hospital in Phnom Penh”. The victim was traveling on a routine trip from her home in Choam Chao Commune’s Prey Tea Village to exchange money at Olympic market, Mam Hor said. “They were stopped and robbed while they were driving and arrived at a quiet place in the village. The robbers then successfully escaped from the place a...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A former military officer of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) who worked in Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit was arrested on Saturday and charged with counts of rape, breach of trust and fraud by the Kandal Provincial Court. Prosecutor of the court Ouk Kimseth said 57-year-old Chea Chan Sophal, also known as Chanputrithy, was charged based on the complaints of three women and one man, tying the suspect to rape as well as using his previous status as a military officer as leverage to illegally obtain possessions. “He was already charged by the court after the completion of his questioning last week,” he said. Kandal provincial police officer Sath Saroeun said the suspect would allegedly wear his old RCAF uniform to make it appear he was an active officer and in turn use this false pretense of authority to borrow individual’s belongings without returning them. A 20-year-old woman in Kampong Thom is accusing Chea Chan Sophal of raping her in 2010. A ...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea ONE of five of alleged accomplices with close ties to Senate President Chea Sim accused of being complicit in a scam was formally charged on Wednesday evening with fraud and producing fake public documents. National Military Police chief Kheng Tito said yesterday Chea Sim’s protocol chief Kunthea Borey was charged based on information provided by the Senate president’s former Bodyguard Unit chief, Chhoeun Chanthan, who was arrested in August in connection with the same case. “She was then sent by police to detention at Prey Sor Prison awaiting further investigations and trial in the future,” he said yesterday. Police lieutenant general Chan Kosal, former cabinet member Khieu Bora, and lieutenant general Ponlork Ho, who were arrested on Friday and Sunday last week, had all been charged in connection with the scam based on information from Chhoeun Chanthan. Kheng Tito declined to comment on the specific scam that the charges had been made in connection to but Ponlor...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea While her husband was working in a mine only 300 metres away, a woman was brutally murdered and robbed in her home on Sunday morning in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district. Sok Mony, police officer in the district’s Kleng commune, said Som Mao, 46, was gagged before her throat was slit and the suspect fled the scene. “She was robbed while she was staying alone and cooking rice for her husband and other workers. Before murdering her, the robber put a cotton scarf into her mouth, so she would not be able to shout for help. He then cut her throat and almost separated her head from her body,” the officer said. The thief then made away with US $1,000, a chunk of gold from the mine, a motorbike and a mobile phone. Police said they have identified a suspect, but would not release a name because they were close to making an arrest. “We are still working the investigation and seeking the robber. Based on our experience, we hope we will arrest him soon,” Sok Mony sai...

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea TWO men were charged yesterday over the rape and murder of a 36-year-old woman in Phnom Srouch district’s Taing Khya commune, in Kampong Speu province, on Saturday, police said. Sorn Sak, Deputy Chief of Kampong Speu Provincial Police, said Sok Rith, 25, and Chan Na, 26, were charged with raping and murdering Morn Sok, also known as Ith. Sorn Sak said two men raped the victim on a rice field. “After raping, they killed her by putting pressure on her throat,” he told the Post yesterday. Sorn Sak said Morn Sok, who was single, was found dead by villagers at her rice field in Kraing Tatoan Village. An examination indicated she had been raped and murdered. Sorn Sak said the two suspects lived in the same village as the victim and were arrested as they tried to flee the province.

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea A British national, who was previously arrested in 2005 on charges of child prostitution, stood trial yesterday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court again on charges stemming from the purchase of child prostitution last year in Kandal province. Presiding judge Oeung Seang, identified British national Michael Julian Leach, a 50-year-old tourist from London, as the individual being charged with the purchase of child prostitution. The judge said Leach was arrested in September of 2010 at the Sneha One Guesthouse in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district on suspicion of sexually abusing three girls between the ages of 10 and 15. Five others are facing charges based on answers Leach gave to police during his questioning upon arrest. Four Cambodians: 46-year-old Penh Phath, 42-year-old Nov Nhanh, 48-year-old Pheth Choeun, 46-year-old Sim Savoeun are being charged with being accomplices to child prostitution. Sem Deth, 45-year-old female guesthouse owner, is being charged ...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea Forty-nine pythons, weighing from 20 to 30 kilograms each, were released into Koh Kong’s Stung Proat river on Saturday after being confiscated from a businessman in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district, an officer from Wildlife Alliance said yesterday. “We were asked by provincial police to take the snakes from them on Friday,” he told the Post. He added that he was informed by police that the suspect was a police officer who worked at the Cambodian-Vietnamese border checkpoint in Koh Thom district. His SUV was also confiscated, but he was later released by police after his arrest and questioning. Iv Chamroeun, chief of the Kandal Police, contradicted that version of events, saying that the suspect had not been released but, in fact, escaped. He added that the 404 kilograms of pythons were confiscated on Thursday at about 3:30 pm at a police checkpoint located in Koh Thom district’s Sampao Puon commune, while the suspect was trying to export them for sale in Vi...

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea The former head of Phnom Penh’s anti-human trafficking police was tried in absentia yesterday with soliciting protection money from brothel owners and paying officers to hide underage sex workers, even after he was sacked. Eam Rattana, the former chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection police office was sacked in 2009 but allegedly continued to assist brothel owners until he was charged with corruption in April this year. Phnom Penh Municipal Court Presiding Judge Duch Kimsorn, said the 54-year-old fled who fled into hiding in April this year shortly after a warrant was issued for his arrest, provided protection to three men running sexual services out of their coffee shops. “Eam Rattana ordered to his closest people to collect money for him from a number of brothels for his protection from police crack downs or arrests,” he said. He is accused of providing protection to 53-year-old Sok Heng, 45-year-old Ly Mao and 50-ye...

TWO Chinese men were arrested on Tuesday night over the murder of a third Chinese man – their friend – at a restaurant in Phnom Penh. Chan Sahouth, deputy chief of Russey Keo district police, said Uorng Faphing, 23, and Kour Yin Kuoy, 25, were arrested about 8:30pm in Prek Liep commune, Russey Keo district. He said the men were accused of killing their friend during an alcohol-fuelled argument at a restaurant in Russey Keo district’s Bak Kheng commune. “They got very drunk and they had been arguing with their friend. They jointly beat him and used a knife to cut his neck,” Chan Sahouth said. He said a police investigation had determined that tempers had flared when the victim asked to borrow money from Kour Yin Kuoy to pay his rent and had become verbally abusive when the suspect refused. “They are being detained at our police office for further questioning. They will be sent to court for charges (today),” he said.