Ex-Kampong Chhnang senior police officer loses appeal


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

A former senior police officer Friday had his conviction upheld by the Phnom Penh Appeal Court for allegedly grabbing more than 30 hectares of flooded forest land, in Zone 3, in the vicinity of Tonle Sap Lake in Kampong Leng district between 2011 and 2021.

Presiding Judge Yun Narong named the accused as Keo Narun, 60, former colonel and police officer and former Chief of Provincial Police of the Interventions Department in Kampong Chhnang city.

“The Judges’ Council of the Phnom Penh Appeal Court upheld the conviction of the accused Keo Narun because the council took into consideration that his conviction was already reduced by the lower court. Also, his sentence is not that severe relative to the crime that he had committed,” Judge Narong explained.

“Therefore, the appeal court has decided to deny his appeal,” he said and added that, “The accused has the right to appeal this judgment to the high court within the period of a month (30 days ) if he does not agree with it.”

Judge Narong said that the accused Narun was sentenced on September 9, 2022 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to three years and six months and was fined five million Riels (about $ 1,250). 

The municipal court also ordered the seizure of 32 hectares of the flooded forest land that he had grabbed to return to state ownership.

The accused was charged with four counts of “Destruction and Embezzlement” under Article 608 of the Criminal Code; with “Land Grabbing” under Article 98 of the Law on Fisheries; with “not declaring assets and liabilities” under Articles 32 and 38 of Law on Anti-Corruption; and, with “Money Laundering” under Article 38 of the Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Financing, he said.

The accused was arrested on December 16, 2021 by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in connection with the occupation of 32 hectares of flooded forest land in Zone 3 in Kampong Leng district, Kampong Chhnang province, he added.

Narun and his lawyer could not be reached for comment.  

However, during his appeal on March 7, Narun denied the allegations against him, claiming that he did not cut down the flooded forests or clear any land in Zone 3 of Kampong Chhnang province. 

He told the court that, in fact, he bought the lands from farmers living in the area in 2011.  

He also denied accusations that he was behind the deforestation of the flooded forests in Zone 3, or any other flooded forest areas in Kampong Chhnang province.

Since his arrest last year by the ACU, he has already returned all the flooded land he had bought to the state, he added.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia Attends the 13th World Swimming Championship in Italy

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA The six Cambodian delegates will leave for the 13th World Swimming Championship, scheduled over nine days from the July 25 to August 2, 2009 in Rome, Italy. The delegates will depart on July 21. Their number will include two national male swimmers and a couple of female junior swimmers. They will be supported by one coach and one member of the sport’s governing body. The World Swimming Championship is organized by the International Amateur Swimming Federation (IASF), which was founded in the 1950s, according to Hem Thon, National Coach and Secretary General of the Khmer Amateur Swimming Federation (KASF). He also said that 115 countries besides Cambodia would send swimmers to Italy to take part in the competition. “This is the third year that Cambodia has sent a swimming team to the World Swimming Championships. We are looking forward to competing with the best swimmers in the world and hopefully winning a couple of medals for our country. It is also be a great...
Read more

Chan Tra: Life of a Cambodian Traditional Tattoo Artist

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Among tattooists in Cambodia, Chan Tra, 46, is the only tattoo artist to retain the ability to ink a wide range of subjects in different styles. His modern counterparts are limited in their repertoire in comparison. His subjects include the human form, birds and abstract patterns. Chan Tra is now an expert in drawing Ankor Wat on the skin of foreign clients, thus turning them into walking, talking promotional materials for Cambodia’s tourist sector. Chan Tra was born in 1963 in Sihanouk province and has two sons and one daughter. He is an orphaned and a Survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. He lost his entire family during the years of terror between 1975 and 1979. “I have loved drawing and painting ever since I was a child and practised my art every day before the arrival of the Pol Pot regime. Consequently, I like the art of tattooing and it makes a solid source of income to keep my wife and kids happy,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly during a personal i...
Read more

TV5 Selects Freshie Girls and Boys 2009

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Ten Cambodian teenagers, five girls and five boys, were selected as “Cambodian Freshie Girls and Boys” for 2009. The “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition took place on March 30 at the TV5’s station in Phnom Penh and was organized by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ Television Channel 5 (TV5). Bun Kert, Director of the “Freshie Girls and Boys Organizational Committee” of the TV5, said more than 1,000 Cambodian youth applied for the competition, but through many different phases of the competition, only 20 girls and boys who reached the final round on March 30. He said the main objective of the competition is to promote and encourage Cambodian young people to show their personal abilities and skills and knowledge in order to become a future leader, good speaker or TV hosts in Cambodia. “This is the eighth “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition organized by TV5 in Phnom Penh. The main purpose of the competition is to select the freshie girls and boys for Cambodia i...
Read more