Hundreds walk in capital over factory dismissals

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhMXXzu6ROHfByQn3LSFkno9JpDb9JdhNntN99dd5mnx8JNyD_u8WOlHePAKJ3vgeexDvezFTFbLyNArBFEj5IV3lPTCS0ryAMa5s1Jd5lrKZ2rdRq-B8l3HtyVWUAl4j-i9M3mfgGZmd/s1600/people_gather_at_the_gate_of_a_garment_factory_yesterday_in_phnom_penhs_meanchey_district_during_a_protest_09_05_2016_supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhMXXzu6ROHfByQn3LSFkno9JpDb9JdhNntN99dd5mnx8JNyD_u8WOlHePAKJ3vgeexDvezFTFbLyNArBFEj5IV3lPTCS0ryAMa5s1Jd5lrKZ2rdRq-B8l3HtyVWUAl4j-i9M3mfgGZmd/s640/people_gather_at_the_gate_of_a_garment_factory_yesterday_in_phnom_penhs_meanchey_district_during_a_protest_09_05_2016_supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> About 300 workers at the Lian Hao garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district protested for the third day in a row yesterday over the sacking of 14 workers, allegedly for forming a union.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Workers Development Union Federation president Tep Ton said the workers began protesting on Saturday, a day after their firing.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “The 14 workers who were fired were preparing to create a union in the factory to represent and help workers,” he said, adding that the workers had already prepared the leadership infrastructure for the union, such as naming the director and deputy director.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> However, Jiadan Feng, son of the factory’s owner, said the workers were fired for failing to perform their duties. He produced evidence such as photos of the workers standing around chatting. He added that the firm had been trying to negotiate, but the workers refused.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> One of the protesters, Chan Sok, said they “felt sorry” for the workers. “They always cared for and helped us, but then they lost their jobs. So now we help them by protesting to demand the company give them their jobs back.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The workers planned to continue their protests today.</div>

Hundreds walk in capital over factory dismissals

About 300 workers at the Lian Hao garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district protested for the third day in a row yesterday o...

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PM calls for bird preservation

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs8LR8q0xNn1dgSOiyDQcQFeIKr7VcdDXVwvP-tXRPfFUvnuFu4y_rLR4cQI4XjkGcDhrsH7hP7tD4ztibVOiwNUKiHrH9rW9cYPP9ma7BDFSk_yyQ4LVOcKJ6rQl6gr4sVdebAGCCx0c/s1600/a_man_displays_the_bodies_of_two_birds_killed_by_a_poisoned_watering_hole_in_stung_trengs_sesan_district_00_04_2016_supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs8LR8q0xNn1dgSOiyDQcQFeIKr7VcdDXVwvP-tXRPfFUvnuFu4y_rLR4cQI4XjkGcDhrsH7hP7tD4ztibVOiwNUKiHrH9rW9cYPP9ma7BDFSk_yyQ4LVOcKJ6rQl6gr4sVdebAGCCx0c/s640/a_man_displays_the_bodies_of_two_birds_killed_by_a_poisoned_watering_hole_in_stung_trengs_sesan_district_00_04_2016_supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday told Cambodians to stop hunting and poisoning wild birds, whose populations are already under strain from drought and forest fires.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Please preserve rare wildlife birds in Cambodia together,” the premier posted on Facebook, saying Cambodia’s exotic birds are not only valuable to the environment but capable of drawing lucrative eco-tourism.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Conservationists last week said that some of the Kingdom’s bird species, which range from vulnerable to critically endangered, are not reproducing this year due to insufficient food, water and habitat loss.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Meanwhile, poaching is up, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society and Wildlife Alliance. Some poachers have resorted to poisoning water sources with pesticides. Last month, four birds killed this way in Stung Treng were found by the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We have uncovered more evidence that poisoning is frequently occurring in Stung Treng province, with terrible effects for the ecosystem,” said ACCB conservation manager Oliver Gray-Read.</div>

PM calls for bird preservation

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday told Cambodians to stop hunting and poisoning wild birds, whose populations are already under strain fr...

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Delay forecast in KRT appeal

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1dRVrB1oZATzuOpAzJ7MzZs4hSoum3Kt2bfccFjXNAUlnhdO8thcTZvDmsB5gmmIbHLkhV1odyKs61PIw6UsDRiqD4nJX4nJZbe_UTBhLnCSl3YXeEznxXNTvO0rJmuwydqoXoQgUksK/s1600/international_civil_party_lead_co-lawyer_ms._marie_guiraud_left_and_national_civil_party_lead_co-lawyer_mr._pich_ang_at_the_eccc_17_02_2016_eccc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1dRVrB1oZATzuOpAzJ7MzZs4hSoum3Kt2bfccFjXNAUlnhdO8thcTZvDmsB5gmmIbHLkhV1odyKs61PIw6UsDRiqD4nJX4nJZbe_UTBhLnCSl3YXeEznxXNTvO0rJmuwydqoXoQgUksK/s640/international_civil_party_lead_co-lawyer_ms._marie_guiraud_left_and_national_civil_party_lead_co-lawyer_mr._pich_ang_at_the_eccc_17_02_2016_eccc.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> With a delay recently projected in the final appeal judgment for co-accused Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, concerned lawyers at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have stressed that time is of the essence when dealing with the elderly defendants.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> A judgment on the Case 002/01 appeal was expected by the end of June at the latest, but the latest revision of the court’s completion plan, published on their website on April 28, predicts that it now will be delivered around mid-August.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The revised plan prompted Marie Guiraud, the international co-lawyer representing civil parties, to write to the court saying that “any delay was concerning”, as both the civil parties and the accused are ageing. Nuon Chea is 89, and Khieu Samphan is 84.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> She said that civil parties – recognised victims of the regime who give evidence and are entitled to collective and symbolic reparations – have been a part of the court proceedings since 2007.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Many have reached an advanced age, and more than 50 civil parties have died during the course of the case 002/01 trial and appeal,” Guiraud wrote in her letter. “We therefore urge that a final judgement in case 002/01 be delivered without delay.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The Supreme Court Chamber in February this year reiterated that until a judgment is reached on the appeal, the accused are presumed innocent.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> But tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said the completion plan should not be regarded as a timeline of court dates to be adhered to, but a series of projections to help with budgeting and logistics.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I don’t think it’s correct to say it’s a delay; it’s a revision,” he said. “It’s always difficult to make an exact projection about how long things will take.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Generally, we are dealing with ageing defendants and ageing victims, but at the same time, it is not possible to cut corners on the judicial process . . . regardless of the age of the defendants,” he added.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Victor Koppe, defence lawyer for Nuon Chea, whose boycott of the appeal proceedings was partially blamed for the delay, said he was not concerned about the time lag.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Koppe said the outcome of the appeal was “irrelevant” for his client as the Supreme Court Chamber had dismissed certain evidence and witnesses, chief among them current National Assembly president and former Khmer Rouge cadre Heng Samrin.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The completion plan indicates the trial phase in the ongoing Case 002/02 will be finished by the end of 2017, with the judicial investigations into Case 003 suspect Meas Muth and Case 004/01 against Im Chaem due to conclude by the end of this year.</div>

Delay forecast in KRT appeal

With a delay recently projected in the final appeal judgment for co-accused Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, concerned lawyers at the Khmer ...

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Maternal, child health outpacing neighbours

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdksUgDL32rby1B_ctRl1jXTzA83zkxWzBo1fNSiQ50lME2w3c6oeQl26FZfq1YkWP9FGFjh_-Sp5jlWO83LzuEjGavY1jtyJ-lasuzEBuwVFvwdTkveZsIqh9tz809nf0s5_4cYKupits/s1600/mothers_wait_with_their_children_outside_the_kantha_bopha_hopspital_late_last_year_in_phnom_penh_12_011_2016_pha_lina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdksUgDL32rby1B_ctRl1jXTzA83zkxWzBo1fNSiQ50lME2w3c6oeQl26FZfq1YkWP9FGFjh_-Sp5jlWO83LzuEjGavY1jtyJ-lasuzEBuwVFvwdTkveZsIqh9tz809nf0s5_4cYKupits/s640/mothers_wait_with_their_children_outside_the_kantha_bopha_hopspital_late_last_year_in_phnom_penh_12_011_2016_pha_lina.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Cambodia is among 10 countries that achieved accelerated progress in maternal and child health – ahead of comparable countries – by meeting goals to reduce mortality among those population groups, according to a recent cross-country analysis by the WHO.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Progress among the 10 countries, which also included Vietnam, Laos, Bangladesh and China, can be linked to consistent and coordinated policy and program input across various sectors, the analysis found.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> It says that Cambodia specifically based its planning on research findings, developed a midwifery training and incentive scheme and increased government spending.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The Kingdom’s success was also due to growing stability, economic growth and poverty reduction, and increased information on health services, according to Iman Morooka, spokeswoman with UNICEF Cambodia.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “UNICEF and development partners have played an important role in this success,” she said, attributing gains to supporting improvements in health facilities, increased access to health services and the Health Equity Fund.</div>

Maternal, child health outpacing neighbours

Cambodia is among 10 countries that achieved accelerated progress in maternal and child health – ahead of comparable countries – by meet...

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Official arrested in capital for ‘forgery’

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo2G3b3RvK_IuRL2VcexGHk-E43ZrPcQN-0-2RpbPugj6FoOiprh-pAlxHk6UI4pdCHYWlytqe72d2cVcYs9pm_bFPUmcdpgQHtE9zdJ7CHAaHK0JHfj1iEIyZfm0nWDCucZ1GTM3Coai/s1600/untitled-1_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo2G3b3RvK_IuRL2VcexGHk-E43ZrPcQN-0-2RpbPugj6FoOiprh-pAlxHk6UI4pdCHYWlytqe72d2cVcYs9pm_bFPUmcdpgQHtE9zdJ7CHAaHK0JHfj1iEIyZfm0nWDCucZ1GTM3Coai/s640/untitled-1_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> A deputy commune chief was arrested by Meanchey district police on Saturday after having allegedly forged official documents in return for cash, according to comments by National Police chief Neth Savoeun published yesterday on the National Police website.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “In Phnom Penh in the past few days, a commune police chief in Meanchey district faked the seal of the district police chief for a family in exchange for $80,” Savoeun was reported as saying. “This forgery is completely criminal and therefore he needs to be sent to court.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Meanchey district police chief Teng Sino declined to comment beyond confirming the suspect’s name and job title.“He was the Boeung Tompun deputy commune chief and his name is Keo Saravuth,” said Sino. “The municipal police are working on this issue.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Municipal penal police chief Eng Sorphea could not be reached for comment.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> San Chey of good governance watchdog ANSA said that while he was not familiar with Saravuth’s case, he hoped the arrest might “help reduce the systemic bribery” in Cambodia.</div>

Official arrested in capital for ‘forgery’

A deputy commune chief was arrested by Meanchey district police on Saturday after having allegedly forged official documents in return f...

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KNLF ‘traitor’ appeals sentence

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ORzgOCxUzA1tJ9E4PVALn9K5cSSjrx7mrAe0UbkNjNP50upTFm_FpxhVwQ5m2MGf_nqTcSgQdu1_BWcetjQ4t62ZfIbtiQiEbW7vz_Z7O0vYSMH0m4ib3dgOVcrYq_igL1RvuIHHe7JO/s1600/b_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ORzgOCxUzA1tJ9E4PVALn9K5cSSjrx7mrAe0UbkNjNP50upTFm_FpxhVwQ5m2MGf_nqTcSgQdu1_BWcetjQ4t62ZfIbtiQiEbW7vz_Z7O0vYSMH0m4ib3dgOVcrYq_igL1RvuIHHe7JO/s640/b_6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> A member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF) serving a seven-year jail sentence for bringing books written by the party’s leader into Cambodia and allegedly using a forged passport appeared in the Appeals Court yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Hin Chan, 34, was found guilty last year of “conspiracy to commit treason and using a fake passport” after he was arrested in 2014 on his way back to Phnom Penh from Thailand.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He was carrying 250 copies of a book written by Sam Serey, leader of the KNLF, which is classified as a terrorist organisation, and a friend’s passport with his own photograph pasted inside.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The prosecution claimed Chan had planned to distribute the books, which were critical of the Cambodian government.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> In court yesterday, Chan said it had not been his intention to distribute the books, rather he was bringing them as evidence in another Appeals Court case.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “The book describes the political situation in Cambodia and the root cause of the January 7 victory [over the Khmer Rouge in 1979]. It also teaches people about their rights,” Chan said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He went on to request that his sentence be reduced and the conviction for forgery be overturned since the passport had not been checked by police when he entered through the O’Smach crossing. “If the police did not check, I did not use it.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> More than a dozen KNLF members have been jailed for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government. The group’s founder, Sam Serey, currently resides in Denmark.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The result of the appeal is due on May 17.</div>

KNLF ‘traitor’ appeals sentence

A member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF) serving a seven-year jail sentence for bringing books written by the party’s lead...

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Preah Vihear ‘publisher’ pinched over blackmail

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_Tx3cntZ29NOCWQWIFsVtIQTIomMeh5pVaSgm3jGAI_jdFVDcqVVUpWbNUitqPNgVFuPkmhWH9hHqLnAhCDzp-Pa1mcEGvN9FNF3vbJZaQodnUlofor8kFQmZNs2Qf2xW0MKs_YoCMh1/s1600/a_journalist_stands_with_authorities_after_he_was_charged_with_extortion_in_preah_vihear_09_05_2016_supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_Tx3cntZ29NOCWQWIFsVtIQTIomMeh5pVaSgm3jGAI_jdFVDcqVVUpWbNUitqPNgVFuPkmhWH9hHqLnAhCDzp-Pa1mcEGvN9FNF3vbJZaQodnUlofor8kFQmZNs2Qf2xW0MKs_YoCMh1/s640/a_journalist_stands_with_authorities_after_he_was_charged_with_extortion_in_preah_vihear_09_05_2016_supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> A man claiming to be a newspaper publisher was arrested in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district on Monday for allegedly blackmailing a victim for an unknown sum.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Prak Sokun ostensibly heads the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Kampuchea Men</em> newspaper, but Ly Chiv Leng, the district police chief, said that officials had never seen a copy of the paper in circulation. Sokun became the subject of an arrest warrant after a victim filed a police complaint.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Lor Chan, a coordinator for rights group Adhoc in Preah Vihear, said that journalists sometimes extort money from potential lawbreakers by threatening to expose them in the press.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “They demand the money from loggers or businesspeople who do not want to see their problem in the newspaper,” said Chan.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> While marking International Free Press Day on May 3, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith warned journalists “in name only” to obey professional ethical standards.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Chhay Sophal, director of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, said 19 reporters had been officially accused of extortion in the past 12 months.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Contact details for <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Kampuchea Men</em> were not readily available yesterday.</div>

Preah Vihear ‘publisher’ pinched over blackmail

A man claiming to be a newspaper publisher was arrested in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district on Monday for allegedly blackmailing a victim f...

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Registration of voters bumped back again

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-yn9HhaNqstbaU47vKTZoD84V8WGN3JdOI3_EtVAkakWmBIxHyNZuC_i2kKeZahwb9h7utTpuhbXPSJLtafsjJGyVXWuABFF0tSTLKZn9pXkSdAtMAKmIGgNkivwO_qe_CsvJ-wnoD3V/s1600/voter_registration_trial_at_phsa_derm_thkov_council_01_11_2015_hong_menea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-yn9HhaNqstbaU47vKTZoD84V8WGN3JdOI3_EtVAkakWmBIxHyNZuC_i2kKeZahwb9h7utTpuhbXPSJLtafsjJGyVXWuABFF0tSTLKZn9pXkSdAtMAKmIGgNkivwO_qe_CsvJ-wnoD3V/s640/voter_registration_trial_at_phsa_derm_thkov_council_01_11_2015_hong_menea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> National Election Committee spokesman Hang Puthea yesterday maintained that the country remains on track to hold commune elections in June 2017 despite the body again postponing the registration of voters in a new digital system because necessary equipment had not yet been acquired.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Puthea said voter registration was now anticipated to begin in mid-August at the earliest. It marks the fourth delay to hit the process, which was initially set to begin in March.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I estimate that this work could begin in August or September,” Puthea said, explaining that the NEC was waiting for 2,400 computers to be purchased with a €6.7 million ($7.6 million) grant from the European Union.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “It’s not a concern. Voter registration will take three months, and our calculation is that there is nothing that cannot be done, but we have to work harder.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The NEC was overhauled last year and now includes four members appointed by the Cambodia National Rescue Party and four selected by the Cambodian People’s Party.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Puthea, the ninth and “neutral” member of the body, said the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) was contracted to purchase the computers and related equipment and would handle the cash directly.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Once the equipment was received, 7,000 people will be trained to operate the system, which will log the biometric data of almost 10 million eligible voters in a bid to combat fraud, he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Reached yesterday, a UNOPS spokesman said more details about the competitive bidding process to supply the computers would be published online and in local newspapers soon.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Koul Panha, head of election monitor Comfrel, said an August start date left enough time if things ran smoothly, but unforeseen problems could cause further postponements.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “This is a new system; three months may be a big challenge,” Panha said, also noting monsoon rains could further complicate matters. “The NEC should release a clear draft schedule . . . It’s important they respect the period of elections, which the law says is [every] five years.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The NEC’s Puthea said the government had to announce an election date nine months in advance. “I don’t worry; it will not [be pushed back].”</div>

Registration of voters bumped back again

National Election Committee spokesman Hang Puthea yesterday maintained that the country remains on track to hold commune elections in Ju...

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Yentieng warns Sokha ignoring summons is 'real crime'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSgwrSn-uJm4ycEmdHeEKr-ZiZDXqTrS-fMWA7CZfXOezvY9XaqwwCw96daJR9kBTrQjpYkOf0yemQD4kLBQjQsZQ3ya1lG-Wna8Xn3Ebqxkdnvt7qxuTWml6ypNRALBioIvlubTpuj06/s1600/om_yentieng_speaks_at_a_press_conference_late_last_month_in_phnom_penh_24_05_2016_sreng_meng_srun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSgwrSn-uJm4ycEmdHeEKr-ZiZDXqTrS-fMWA7CZfXOezvY9XaqwwCw96daJR9kBTrQjpYkOf0yemQD4kLBQjQsZQ3ya1lG-Wna8Xn3Ebqxkdnvt7qxuTWml6ypNRALBioIvlubTpuj06/s640/om_yentieng_speaks_at_a_press_conference_late_last_month_in_phnom_penh_24_05_2016_sreng_meng_srun.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> ACU chief Om Yentieng yesterday threw down the gauntlet to Kem Sokha, warning the opposition leader he would commit a “real crime” if he failed to turn up to court for questioning on Wednesday, and suggested he go to see whether his parliamentary immunity was respected.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Yentieng, a close confidant of Prime Minister Hun Sen, has spearheaded a widely criticised probe into an alleged affair by Sokha, spurred by covertly recorded phone conversations – purportedly between the opposition deputy president and a mistress – that were anonymously leaked online.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> So far, seven people have been charged over the scandal, while Sokha – who enjoys parliamentary immunity – has been issued a summons to appear by the Phnom Penh court to answer questions related to a defamation suit brought by a social media personality.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Sokha and two other CNRP lawmakers have also been issued summons over allegations of procuring prostitution.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> With the defamation hearing set for Wednesday, the ACU chief yesterday spoke to Voice of Democracy radio to lay out his interpretation of parliamentary immunity and the consequences for Sokha if he ignores the summons, as his party says he plans to do.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “All people with immunity cannot resist the action taken by the government. For example, if the person with immunity drives and crashes with another person, the local police will invite him to clarify,” Yentieng said. “He must go to the police. But if the court charges him, it is only after his immunity is removed.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Thus Kem Sokha “must abide by the law and see whether the court violates his immunity”, he said, adding not appearing would “create a real crime”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Then the court may not arrest him on prostitution [allegations], they may arrest him for the new crime,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> However, Cambodian legal expert Sok Sam Oeun disputed this interpretation, pointing out that, firstly, immunity should protect lawmakers from arrest and, secondly, there is no charge for ignoring a summons.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “For the second summons, police can bring him to court, and for the third, they can arrest him, but it’s not a charge – it’s just to send to the court,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Given that two of its lawmakers are already locked up despite their parliamentary immunity, Cambodia National Rescue Party spokesman Yim Sovann repeated the party’s position.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “He will not go . . . The constitution is not respected.”</div>

Yentieng warns Sokha ignoring summons is 'real crime'

ACU chief Om Yentieng yesterday threw down the gauntlet to Kem Sokha, warning the opposition leader he would commit a “real crime” if he...

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Gov’t headed to Nauru soon over potential resettlements

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5pO6x6EKolcrYMEeeSjEEuZVhsc4cWIe2RqyNqlCvMc9Gf4I8rrdSzq06zz_CK88Tkb3yq_BVBm305bKa7T94aEfnGVkaOCOGt65g42fZ0Non1awvoPZjsL0zMs_fU46gAeuUNJx-X8l/s1600/_mg_2603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5pO6x6EKolcrYMEeeSjEEuZVhsc4cWIe2RqyNqlCvMc9Gf4I8rrdSzq06zz_CK88Tkb3yq_BVBm305bKa7T94aEfnGVkaOCOGt65g42fZ0Non1awvoPZjsL0zMs_fU46gAeuUNJx-X8l/s640/_mg_2603.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Cambodian refugee officials are expected to arrive on the shores of chaotic Nauru this month to interview two Iranian refugees about resettling in the Kingdom under a controversial deal with Australia.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Tan Sovichea, refugee director of the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Department, confirmed yesterday that two refugees from Iran – a man and a woman, both believed to be over 30 – had expressed interest in moving to Cambodia.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Of the four Iranian refugees who previously moved here under the scheme, three have since returned to Iran.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “So far from Nauru, three refugees returned back home to Iran. With their own people, there is no more discrimination or torture sanctioned by the government,” Sovichea said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Although he said he was still waiting on paperwork from the Australian government, he expected the trip to Nauru would take place later this month, to ensure the refugees were willing volunteers and not coerced.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We go there and confirm they are really voluntary – if, after our presentation, they change their mind, we cannot force them,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The Australian government has shelled out almost A$8 million (US$5.9 million) for the scheme to date, with a Senate Estimates hearing last week showing Cambodia had received almost A$5 million (out of A$40 million promised in aid) and A$2.71 million spent on resettlement (out of an allotted A$15 million).</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The auditor-general for Australia, Grant Hehir, last month indicated a performance audit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s management of Australian aid to Cambodia was “being considered” for investigation as part of an audit program to be finalised mid-2016.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Hehir’s statement came in response to a call from Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young to gauge the “value for money” of the deal, with “significant public funding being used to resettle very few people”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition said this latest resettlement of Iranian refugees could see them follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Cambodia will remain a stepping stone to somewhere that can provide the security and protection that they need,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He said despite “appalling” conditions on Nauru – where two refugees self-immolated last week – only a handful of refugees had taken up the offer, which includes $8,000 in cash and resettlement assistance from the International Organization for Migration for one year.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Spokespeople for the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton did not respond to requests for comment.</div>

Gov’t headed to Nauru soon over potential resettlements

Cambodian refugee officials are expected to arrive on the shores of chaotic Nauru this month to interview two Iranian refugees about res...

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Trial begins for trio arrested over Freedom Park showdown

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPLBH6vnQCfxk2tg86h0deTxj9blTjVl0jAXnWROJv6eFp_SgVwNDmqjwMe3FbLO14URycmVuhOhzE7wwJfLbsvN30pE-DLFIT-WrbInc2EBCtra6n_JNDQ3ydz3NdpEaSalfnvdF_QNf/s1600/people_at_court_facing_charges_over_violence_at_freedom_park_05_05_2016_niem_chheng.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPLBH6vnQCfxk2tg86h0deTxj9blTjVl0jAXnWROJv6eFp_SgVwNDmqjwMe3FbLO14URycmVuhOhzE7wwJfLbsvN30pE-DLFIT-WrbInc2EBCtra6n_JNDQ3ydz3NdpEaSalfnvdF_QNf/s640/people_at_court_facing_charges_over_violence_at_freedom_park_05_05_2016_niem_chheng.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Three opposition supporters charged over their roles in a violent anti-government protest in 2014 yesterday faced their first day of trial, with two of the men describing the chaotic scenes as protesters and Daun Penh security guards clashed at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Roeun Chetra, 33; Yon Kimhour, 29; and Yea Thong, 44, face between seven and 15 years in prison for “participating in an insurrection”, under articles 456 and 457 of the Criminal Code.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Eleven CNRP activists have already been convicted and sentenced over the protest, which left at least 39 of the notoriously violent security guards and six protesters injured.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The case has been slammed as politically motivated.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The trio were arrested in August, days after Prime Minister Hun Sen called for yet more arrests in the case.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Yesterday, two of the defendants took the stand to testify about the events of July 15.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Chetra, a tuk-tuk driver from Kandal province, recalled at-tending a meeting a day before the protest to reopen Freedom Park, which had been barricaded amid the political tension arising from rolling protests that followed the disputed 2013 election.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Stating he joined the protest of his own accord, Chetra said he was tasked by CNRP youth team leader San Kim Heng – among the 11 already convicted – with controlling the crowd in order to avoid clashes during the demonstration, and was given an armband and pin to identify his role.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “He told me not to make any conflict but stick to nonviolence,” Chetra said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> When clashes erupted the next day, Chetra, who said he was trying to direct the crowd on Naga bridge, said he entered the fray to help Kimheng, who he said was being beaten by security guards.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I saw San Kim Heng fall to the ground,” Chetra recalled.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “As I tried to drag him away, I was beaten by a guard on my head. After I got him away, I went back and kneed the guard who beat me twice. I then went to hospital with Kim Heng.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Kimhour, a motodop originally from Kampong Chhnang province, said he was a CNRP youth member for Daun Penh district, a chapter led by Heng Samnang. He said that he had spent his own money to attend the protest that day, where he also was directed to help control the crowd.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “First, the security guards came to disperse us and prevent us from being together,” he recalled.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We split up but later on regrouped. Then the guards came again to beat us and the clash broke out. I was at the tail of the Naga [on the bridge], holding a stick with a flag. I swung at the guards, but my stick did not reach them. Then a smoke bomb was fired.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Under questioning by judge Mong Monisophea, both defendants said they were unaware that the protest was not permitted by authorities, saying they had joined the opposition’s efforts several days before the clash.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Chetra was also quizzed about wooden sticks found in sacks alleged to have been used by the protesters. However, he said these were in fact taken from security guards.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “The protesters had only flags and plastic sticks. No metal or rocks inside,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> More than 10 security guards involved in the brawl attended the hearing. Some laughed during the testimony of the defendants, whose wives were also present in the court room and called for their release, insisting they did not initiate violence.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Reached yesterday, Kim Vutha, chief of the Daun Penh security guards, a quasi-official force with a long history of brutally suppressing nonviolent protests, denied his men were to blame for the clash, noting none had been arrested.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We are the victims,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> However, chief of the CNRP’s Phnom Penh executive committee Man Phalla disputed this. “Both parties were injured, but only the protesters were arrested,” he said.</div>

Trial begins for trio arrested over Freedom Park showdown

Three opposition supporters charged over their roles in a violent anti-government protest in 2014 yesterday faced their first day of tri...

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Fires burn large parts of Battambang forest

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivtW2OzvuW_yW9oUQGqxQ6XF18teK05IKAdD9-CR3x9ya6uYUCw_YjJPGiksUIeIuW_tMlQX8TCzptidHCPL5IxtRh7Rrn64SN796YkMJg5FDBLbwaZ3jMw66SWoqHOiiSGpWbdxEJLQB/s1600/fire_in_battambang_that_destroyed_bird_habitat_27_04_2016_wcs_cambodia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivtW2OzvuW_yW9oUQGqxQ6XF18teK05IKAdD9-CR3x9ya6uYUCw_YjJPGiksUIeIuW_tMlQX8TCzptidHCPL5IxtRh7Rrn64SN796YkMJg5FDBLbwaZ3jMw66SWoqHOiiSGpWbdxEJLQB/s640/fire_in_battambang_that_destroyed_bird_habitat_27_04_2016_wcs_cambodia.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Fires have consumed more than 2,000 hectares of Prek Toal protected area in Battambang, killing some animals and destroying the breeding sites of multiple endangered species, Prek Toal project managers said yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The fire began in early April and spread into the area last week, destroying 10 per cent of the protected forest.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Nine main trees where painted storks, lesser adjutants and sarus cranes breed were burned down, but none of those birds were found dead yet,” said Long Kheng, an environmental officer in Prek Toal.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The forest fire was caused by fishermen, who built a fire to cook and carelessly forgot to put it out, and by hunters who burn forest to catch wildlife, he added.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Ross Sinclair, WCS Cambodia’s country program director, said Prek Toal is the most significant breeding stronghold in mainland Southeast Asia for many globally threatened bird species.</div>

Fires burn large parts of Battambang forest

Fires have consumed more than 2,000 hectares of Prek Toal protected area in Battambang, killing some animals and destroying the breeding...

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Sweden names new envoy to Cambodia

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxK3N-8b-npcCekUsixnKhiEM2nRDRqUdHGCXmLOKYiqPANLd6H8DFWYcMlGl3W1qCzzd25UDnKrn6NUDE2zJjjDImJGiGmHIyX9eqbNAOvTCv19I2ZSwk_y6dWEKWv1JSuQkBu5VyvSL/s1600/prak_sokhon_minister_of_foreign_affairs_greets_ambassadors_at_the_ministry_05_05_2016_pha_lina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxK3N-8b-npcCekUsixnKhiEM2nRDRqUdHGCXmLOKYiqPANLd6H8DFWYcMlGl3W1qCzzd25UDnKrn6NUDE2zJjjDImJGiGmHIyX9eqbNAOvTCv19I2ZSwk_y6dWEKWv1JSuQkBu5VyvSL/s640/prak_sokhon_minister_of_foreign_affairs_greets_ambassadors_at_the_ministry_05_05_2016_pha_lina.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The Swedish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that their current ambassador to Cambodia, Anna Maj Hultgard, will be moving on in September.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Hultgard is to be succeeded by Maria Sargen, who will be leaving behind a posting as the country’s minister counsellor for development policy, humanitarian aid, democracy and human rights at the EU.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Previous postings for Sargen have included the Swedish Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, as well as multiple delegations to the United Nations.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> During her time as ambassador, Hultgard has made a special cause of gender equality in line with her government’s stated feminist foreign policy.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Swedish Embassy staff did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.</div>

Sweden names new envoy to Cambodia

The Swedish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that their current ambassador to Cambodia, Anna Maj Hultgard, will be moving on in S...

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Gov’t drought relief efforts can’t reach 500,000 people

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKNixLXqohBsQ2dc2nOY6XsCcoRkcgZuiroOLtlZYtDuZf8t9gBzhDmrpltj_qsVZ7GswbRaXmP7lIDBJUhHU4iRg7axfp-SYtGksnF4v7nlCdnE1yViC0-txRhO-pxQI5_3rXj-FMAjb/s1600/authorities_distribute_water_in_banteay_meanchey_province_26_04_2016_supplied_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKNixLXqohBsQ2dc2nOY6XsCcoRkcgZuiroOLtlZYtDuZf8t9gBzhDmrpltj_qsVZ7GswbRaXmP7lIDBJUhHU4iRg7axfp-SYtGksnF4v7nlCdnE1yViC0-txRhO-pxQI5_3rXj-FMAjb/s640/authorities_distribute_water_in_banteay_meanchey_province_26_04_2016_supplied_0.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Around 500,000 Cambodians who face water shortages still have not received government assistance since drought relief efforts began on April 26, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The committee’s first vice president, Nhem Vanda, yesterday said the government was assisting 80 per cent of the estimated 2.5 million people (about 600,000 families) affected by the ongoing water crisis.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We still will distribute the water to the people until they have water and it rains enough in the area,” Vanda said from Kampong Speu – one of 18 provinces facing shortages.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Since Prime Minister Hun Sen launched the water campaign on April 26, the government has spent 500 million riel (about $125,000) on water distribution to about 100 districts nationwide, Vanda said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The government planned to spend another 500 million riel on distribution, as well as reservoir restoration and well-building.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> According to the Ministry of Education’s director of primary education department, Chan Sophea, the ministry was in the process of assessing water needs within schools.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> School hours have already been altered due to a heat wave.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “So far, 2,500 [primary and secondary] schools out of 10,000 are facing water shortages,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Thai newspaper the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nation</em> reported on Wednesday that 26 Cambodians who were arrested for illegally crossing the border into Thailand told authorities that they were escaping severe drought conditions in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap to seek employment in Bangkok.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Vanda admonished people not to politicise the drought, before immediately questioning why “other” parties were not helping out.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I am disabled in one hand,” he continued, referring to his arm lost during the civil war, “but I could distribute water and hold water on my shoulder for the people. How about other parties?”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The apparent reference to the opposition echoed remarks made previously by Prime Minister Hun Sen, which he tripled down on in a speech yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I do not dare call on the other parties to help people,” the premier said, before going on to appeal to “all members of the Cambodian People’s Party to continue to rescue people from lack of water”.</div>

Gov’t drought relief efforts can’t reach 500,000 people

Around 500,000 Cambodians who face water shortages still have not received government assistance since drought relief efforts began on A...

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CNRP asks to grill justice minister

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgRGt065vFFEwz4TAQdCxRKsYIm3Uaa6UgMOSQ8GW9v66vifO-IkPwwZPH_NkbuLrX4Nydp_dviLYpdWHjKi_Uy4Ph37LoPowmj9rwDpaXGDFiA0Mk2174y6MMLCOyu0r-d5wHJS7ntdd/s1600/cnrp_meeting_at_the_headquarters_in_meanchey_district_04_05_2016_supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgRGt065vFFEwz4TAQdCxRKsYIm3Uaa6UgMOSQ8GW9v66vifO-IkPwwZPH_NkbuLrX4Nydp_dviLYpdWHjKi_Uy4Ph37LoPowmj9rwDpaXGDFiA0Mk2174y6MMLCOyu0r-d5wHJS7ntdd/s640/cnrp_meeting_at_the_headquarters_in_meanchey_district_04_05_2016_supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Amid a flurry of recent arrests related to the Kem Sokha sex scandal, opposition lawmakers in a letter yesterday asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to have the National Assembly convene a session so they could question Justice Minister Ang Vong Vanthana about the increasing politicisation of the judicial system.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The letter cites Article 96 of the constitution, which gives lawmakers the right to monitor and question the work of government officials, with CNRP chief whip Son Chhay saying their concerns went beyond the recent arrest of human rights workers and summonses for Sokha and two fellow parliamentarians.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “The government has changed the entire judicial system so that the whole court is now politicised and the government fully controls it through the minister,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He said a “dangerous situation” had been created with the Anti-Corruption Unit’s recent cases against members of parliament and alleged widespread phone tapping.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “The government has always said they are trying to strengthen the rule of law,” he added. “So if they are really serious about what they are saying, they should answer our questions and also face the nation.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> National Assembly spokesman Leng Penglong said his office had yet to receive the letter and would forward it to the prime minister once he did. Justice Ministry spokesman Kim Santepheap could not be reached for comment.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> However, in a statement released earlier in the day, the Justice Ministry slammed the CNRP for questioning the court’s actions, which it claims have been independent of any outside influence.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “They interpret the law with a lack of knowledge about the law and the procedures of the prosecutor and court, including their wrong accusations of twisting the law,” the statement reads.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Meanwhile, at a meet-and-greet organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, Minister Prak Sokhon met with 29 representatives from the diplomatic community.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> However, ministry spokesman Chum Sonry said the topic of Kem Sokha had not been broached, saying it was a simple stock-taking meeting following the minister’s first month on the job, with no other topics discussed.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “This meeting had not a single head of diplomatic missions raise concerns about the current political situation in Cambodia,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div class="node-image full-width" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a class="shadow-box-item" href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sites/default/files/styles/full-screen_watermarked/public/prak_sokhon_meets_with_ugo_astuto_eu_at_the_ministry_of_foriegn_affairs_05_05_2016_heng_chivoan.jpg?itok=ZCr7th_2" rel="shadowbox" style="border: 0px; color: #01599d; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon meets with Ugo Astuto, acting managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Heng Chivoan"><img alt="Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon meets with Ugo Astuto, acting managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday." height="364" itemprop="contentURL" src="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sites/default/files/styles/content_full_width/public/prak_sokhon_meets_with_ugo_astuto_eu_at_the_ministry_of_foriegn_affairs_05_05_2016_heng_chivoan.jpg?itok=s-QA81P-" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 546.5px;" title="Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon meets with Ugo Astuto, acting managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Heng Chivoan" typeof="foaf:Image" width="546" /></a><div class="node-image-caption" itemprop="description" style="background: rgb(26, 26, 26); color: white; height: auto; line-height: 18px; margin: 6px 0px 0px; padding: 7px 0px; width: 546.5px;"> <div class="node-image-caption-inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px;"> Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon meets with Ugo Astuto, acting managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. <span class="icomoon photo" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: icomoon_ppp; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span>Heng Chivoan</div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The US Embassy confirmed the presence of Ambassador William Heidt but refused to divulge the substance of the closed-door meeting. Attempts to reach other embassies to discuss the meeting were unsuccessful yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> But, speaking to the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Post</em> earlier this week, a member of the diplomatic community said there was a sense the government was nervous, resulting in them seeking refuge in remedies they’ve used against adversaries in the past.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I think decisive parameters have changed since, and what may have worked then will not necessarily work now anymore,” the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> While the government could succeed in paralysing the opposition party, the diplomat believed there was a “silent opposition” in the streets that would make itself heard loud and clear when the time came.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> While yesterday’s meeting allegedly avoided the current political tumult, a joint statement issued following another meeting this week, between a visiting EU delegation and Cambodian officials, showed the topic had been broached.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We raised our concerns about the independence of the judiciary and the fairness of law enforcement, and specifically about the recent arrests of civil society representatives, and we called for their release,” said Ugo Astuto, acting managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> In response, Huy Vannak, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said the law was taking its course and that the meeting was held in a “spirit of cooperation, there was no pressure”.</div>

CNRP asks to grill justice minister

Amid a flurry of recent arrests related to the Kem Sokha sex scandal, opposition lawmakers in a letter yesterday asked Prime Minister Hu...

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Cambodian loggers arrested in Thailand

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ4vMw3xJMwLVeazsZXgK8X4TQfOAL1XdfaWU89OT9sMaJZxHWXRscwusGoHMW3RUB63kJbFpJiBpP82_um98dA2G5czKWX5ljNO2AgezxrtTtwP3rTgutzBF-K85pVoXRfnauWXZhX8V/s1600/loggers_arrested_by_authorities_in_thailand_04_05_2016_supplied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ4vMw3xJMwLVeazsZXgK8X4TQfOAL1XdfaWU89OT9sMaJZxHWXRscwusGoHMW3RUB63kJbFpJiBpP82_um98dA2G5czKWX5ljNO2AgezxrtTtwP3rTgutzBF-K85pVoXRfnauWXZhX8V/s640/loggers_arrested_by_authorities_in_thailand_04_05_2016_supplied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> More than two dozen Cambodians were arrested by Thai police following an armed clash on Wednesday evening inside a national park where the Cambodians were allegedly extracting illegal rosewood, according to an official at the Cambodian consulate in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Bun Sokvibol said that 28 Cambodians and one Thai were arrested after being stopped by police while transporting rosewood from the Thap Lan National Park, a protected area inside Kerng Dinsar commune, Prachinburi province.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> According to the police, the Cambodians fired at them as they moved in, and they fired back. There were no injuries, the police said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We cannot intervene for the release of the 28 Cambodians since theirs is an obvious crime. Thai authorities seized chainsaws and weapons. However, as the general consulate, we can seek [legal representation] for defending them,” said Sokvibol.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Na Vanna, one of those arrested, was quoted in a local Thai news report, citing police, that a group of 60 illegal migrants had been hired to log eucalyptus trees and were only told they would be logging rosewood by their Thai boss after arriving.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We did not want to log [rosewood], but they forced us by threatening to report us to Thai police if we did not log rosewood,” Vanna reportedly said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Chum Sounry, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appealed to Cambodians yesterday to be wary of brokers’ claims of work in Thailand.</div>

Cambodian loggers arrested in Thailand

More than two dozen Cambodians were arrested by Thai police following an armed clash on Wednesday evening inside a national park where t...

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Canal work worries capital residents

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77pJzxjF5bAYFhhfXjF_C6fnCu5DC5webBr8g2LSGB8TJLNg6wub0mTQepcwrKD7qVtCT_gHGxy2BYxXazOwO6Bejw2tDyjHc9Kp-UPxdcU5Un525v5mFq50ZOlfjp2hzOPrmSMzjzTnC/s1600/people_from_stung_meanchey_protest_at_the_ministry_of_land_management_05_05_2016_hong_menea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77pJzxjF5bAYFhhfXjF_C6fnCu5DC5webBr8g2LSGB8TJLNg6wub0mTQepcwrKD7qVtCT_gHGxy2BYxXazOwO6Bejw2tDyjHc9Kp-UPxdcU5Un525v5mFq50ZOlfjp2hzOPrmSMzjzTnC/s640/people_from_stung_meanchey_protest_at_the_ministry_of_land_management_05_05_2016_hong_menea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Some 60 families visited the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the Phnom Penh municipal governor yesterday to demand information on the Stung Meanchey canal’s expansion, which they fear might force them to relocate.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The families said they sent a letter to officials on April 23, but had not received a response.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We came to the ministry because we want to know what’s going on with our letter,” said So Chanthorn, 27, a Meanchey village community representative. “We want them to show us the development plan; now they tell us they will contact us next week to inform us when the meeting will be.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> More than 400 families are estimated to live near the 1,470-metre-long canal.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We don’t want to be relocated; we want to stay here because we see people who were relocated and they have seen difficulties,” Chanthorn said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Meanchey District Governor Pich Keo Mony said officials planned to make the canal wider as part of a renovation to allow for better water flow in order to avoid flooding in the district, and Phnom Penh in general. But the project had not started yet, he added.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Keo Mony said if there was space available after widening the canal, a new building would be built for the displaced families. But if there was not enough land after the expansion, the families would be relocated to an as-yet-unidentified new area.</div>

Canal work worries capital residents

Some 60 families visited the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the Phnom Penh municipal governor yesterda...

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Hunters with AK-47 caught in Phnom Oral sanctuary

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVxoJ32DufbZzYkqueyNEDkZSMcLtFtZ9LZ9gZMd8gWEe7iYvsGzE9WENRnWwp3qxu9OYLFuPi40rSX-gGtTIOprV2hEipTROHARkzowb7AyjpTpHsYIUYbEGByQB-vNEbot3-7enJ1rI/s1600/13161163_10208658935927464_1407152402_o_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVxoJ32DufbZzYkqueyNEDkZSMcLtFtZ9LZ9gZMd8gWEe7iYvsGzE9WENRnWwp3qxu9OYLFuPi40rSX-gGtTIOprV2hEipTROHARkzowb7AyjpTpHsYIUYbEGByQB-vNEbot3-7enJ1rI/s640/13161163_10208658935927464_1407152402_o_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Police arrested five men on Tuesday afternoon for allegedly possessing an illegal AK-47 automatic rifle to hunt wildlife in the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Kampong Speu’s provincial penal police chief Sam Sak said the suspects, apprehended inside the forest, had the gun and 41 bullets, home made weapons, gunpowder and the skin and bones of a deer that they had allegedly sold for $250.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We arrested them for possessing an illegal weapon while they were in the forest,” Sak said. “On Tuesday afternoon they were driving their motorbike to trap animals. When we arrived, they tried to hide their weapons. We arrested them, but one of them escaped.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Sam Sak identified the suspects as Thou Thim, 31, Leng Lim, 38, Lim Hean, 31, Vong Veng, 35, and Bun Rithy, 29, all from Oral district. The men had “confessed” to hunting deer and would be sent to court today, Sak said.</div>

Hunters with AK-47 caught in Phnom Oral sanctuary

Police arrested five men on Tuesday afternoon for allegedly possessing an illegal AK-47 automatic rifle to hunt wildlife in the Phnom Or...

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‘High-level’ killings recalled at KRT

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlBME6_AJgeXJjOTnrAtYih8xI0igf_EFUDsaMNFGgGYCxKC7m4U9Hjp7z4L-fEI9KMQO7qYyNNbipXvaEF5mxoBOzhxBoSYVZgFGz9wCmtWXIbSbFUQ41NCZFhlr7rqTDVBh21-dmDVg/s1600/26764044706_0695991504_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlBME6_AJgeXJjOTnrAtYih8xI0igf_EFUDsaMNFGgGYCxKC7m4U9Hjp7z4L-fEI9KMQO7qYyNNbipXvaEF5mxoBOzhxBoSYVZgFGz9wCmtWXIbSbFUQ41NCZFhlr7rqTDVBh21-dmDVg/s640/26764044706_0695991504_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Former S-21 prison guard Him Huy yesterday offered more details about the execution of children and high-value prisoners inside the compound as he was cross-examined by the defense teams for Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> While Huy was vague about whether he was directly told about the executions or deduced that they were happening from conversations he had overheard, he was convinced that the southern end of the compound was used to kill children.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Several restricted buildings in the compound, he added, were used by high-level cadre Ta Ho and the prison’s commandant “Comrade Duch” – also known as Kaing Guek Eav, who was convicted in the tribunal’s Case 001 – to interrogate or eliminate important prisoners.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Everyone said that [the children] were killed behind the prison,” Huy testified. He denied seeing the executions himself but said it was understood among guards that “usually the order to have children taken out meant that the children had to be killed”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Huy said that Ta Ho and a cadre named “Peng”, who also had a leadership position at S-21, told him about interrogations and executions of high-value prisoners. However, at other times, he said that he “overheard” about the executions in conversations between Peng, Ho and others.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “I overheard that important people [were] to be killed behind prison, not killed outside, because the Angkar did not trust [drivers] who took people to different locations,” said Huy, using the name – meaning “the Organisation” – by which the Khmer Rouge often referred to itself.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He added that important prisoners were not sent to any other location except the buildings in the S-21 compound that were only accessible to Duch and Ho. On Wednesday, Huy testified that between 50 and 100 prisoners were executed at the S-21 site per week or fortnight, but “only after the prisoners gave the full confessions to the interrogators”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Many low-value prisoners, including some mothers and minors, were transported to the area around Prey Sar prison, where they were put to work in the rice fields, said Huy.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> He also described a time that he was told to drive prisoners to the killing fields but on the way to pick them up, the inattentive driver drove the vehicle into a ditch and had to tow it to mechanics for repairs. He never made it to the killing fields, Huy said.</div>

‘High-level’ killings recalled at KRT

Former S-21 prison guard Him Huy yesterday offered more details about the execution of children and high-value prisoners inside the comp...

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CNRP ready to negotiate over political crisis

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTmIB7JdEfqxaqi7hGYSVA3-PDmnuprE-43iE6Xm5GUIYaYjPEug9VpzIL1d8r05A62dDi1vhO4enlDmUF62sc3MdbDx237KtRU3fiOoSjWvRS5VEs5hyphenhyphenCvabDRY5-XdXTc7O37uLiUj4/s1600/sokha_and_hun_sen_shake_hands_at_the_national_assembly_in_phnom_penh_22_07_2014_heng_chivoan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTmIB7JdEfqxaqi7hGYSVA3-PDmnuprE-43iE6Xm5GUIYaYjPEug9VpzIL1d8r05A62dDi1vhO4enlDmUF62sc3MdbDx237KtRU3fiOoSjWvRS5VEs5hyphenhyphenCvabDRY5-XdXTc7O37uLiUj4/s640/sokha_and_hun_sen_shake_hands_at_the_national_assembly_in_phnom_penh_22_07_2014_heng_chivoan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Besieged by a growing raft of legal cases widely believed politically motivated, the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party will seek a solution to Cambodia’s escalating political crisis through negotiations, its spokesman said yesterday.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> CNRP lawmaker Yim Sovann said acting party president Kem Sokha wanted to arrange talks with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, which critics say is using an alleged sex scandal involving Sokha to target opposition and civil society members with legally dubious charges.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “Mr acting president [Kem Sokha] has told us that he has tried to make contact to negotiate,” Sovann said, adding the party wanted to restart the so-called “culture of dialogue”.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “But I don’t know how the [CPP] has received this and whether or not they want to negotiate.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Seven people have been charged and six – including an opposition commune chief, four staffers from rights group Adhoc and an election official – imprisoned for allegedly “bribing” Sokha’s purported mistress Khom Chandaraty to deny the alleged affair, revealed by taped phone conversations leaked anonymously to Facebook and said to feature the CNRP leader and the hairdresser speaking intimately.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Sokha and two other lawmakers have also been summonsed to face court over the scandal, despite their parliamentary immunity.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> While the CPP has claimed it’s not pulling the strings, the Anti-Corruption Unit, led by Om Yentieng, a long-time confidant of Prime Minister Hun Sen, has zealously investigated the scandal.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Responding yesterday, CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said the party had not ruled out talks, though noted they had not received an official request.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “We have not closed the door on the culture of dialogue,” Eysan. “But any such meeting must be clearly defined within the culture of dialogue so this can be solved.”</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Agreed upon in 2014, the “culture of dialogue” dictated that the CPP and CNRP would cease the combative rhetoric and threats that have long characterised the Kingdom’s politics.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> The agreement soon proved little more than a catchphrase, as members of the opposition again found themselves arrested and jailed in cases slammed as politically motivated.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> But while past efforts to negotiate have borne little success, a political commentator, who requested anonymity, said it was in the CNRP’s long-term interests to take the high road and go back to the table.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> “If the elections are still on the agenda, I don’t see how the two parties can go on without talking to each other . . . I think going back to work, preparing for the elections sends a strong signal to people who are fed up with this,” he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Weighing in yesterday, Soy Sopheap, director-general of Deum Ampil News Center, who has in the past claimed to work as a mediator between the parties’ leaders, suggested three lines of approach to the opposition to achieve a compromise.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Firstly, he said the party should discuss filling Sokha’s former position of National Assembly first vice president, from which he was booted amid political tension last year.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> Secondly, the new vice president could reestablish the “culture of dialogue”, and finally cross-party working groups, established last year, should meet to solve “other national problems”, he said.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Ubuntu, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 9px; padding: 0px;"> CNRP spokesman Sovann said the party had not discussed fielding a candidate to become the parliament’s first vice president, but was open to working with their counterparts.</div>

CNRP ready to negotiate over political crisis

Besieged by a growing raft of legal cases widely believed politically motivated, the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party will see...

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