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.


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