Outrage as Cambodian court convicts activists for inciting ‘social chaos’ by planning one-person march
by Gerald Flynn on 14 May 2021
On May 5, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted and sentenced five activists from the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia: Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoraksmey, Thun Ratha, Chea Kunthin and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson.
The activists have been convicted of intending to cause “social chaos” by planning a protest of the government-sanctioned destruction of Phnom Penh’s lakes, which are being filled in for development. The planned one-person march never actually took place.
Kunthea and Keoraksmey were sentenced to 18 months in prison and Ratha received a 20-month sentence while Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson and Chea Kunthin were sentenced in absentia; each activist was also fined $1,000.
TV Presenter Gets Bail in Legal Battle Against Local Tycoon
13 May 2021
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PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
A television presenter, who alleged a local tycoon of attempted rape, was granted bail by a Phnom Penh court Thursday. The influential businessman sued her for stealing a phone and attacking him, leading to her detention last week.
This case involves Mean Pich Rita, a 20-year-old second-year university student, and presenter on “My TV” and a local tycoon Heng Sier, who is the director of Heng Sreng Hong Construction Import and Export and CamboPura Glass company.
After Mean Pich Rita’s detention was widely criticized on social media, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s legal team agreed to represent her on Wednesday, and she was granted bail Thursday morning, according to her new lawyer, Viroch Sophang.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Administration issued a set of detailed guidelines for the seven days to May 12 after the capital emerges from lockdown at the onset of May 6.
In the 14-page document signed by municipal governor Khuong Sreng released on the evening of May 5, the
SBI LY HOUR Bank Plc and Hanoi-based Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) on Friday launched the first Cambodia-Vietnam money transfer service in real currency via RippleNet, provided by SBI Ripple Asia Co Ltd to provide safe, fast and convenient services.
SBI LY HOUR
The government has issued a five-page set of instructions to be enforced when the three-week lockdown of Phnom Penh and adjacent Takmao town in Kandal province ends on May 6.
RFA
It’s no secret that Cambodia under Prime Minister Hun Sen has made life increasingly difficult for civil society organizations, and few groups have borne the brunt of this intolerance as much as Mother Nature. It s an environmental watchdog that has campaigned vigorously against the destruction of Cambodia s natural habitat caused in the name of development that oftentimes profits individuals and companies that are tied with Hun Sen. On May 5, five members of Mother Nature were sentenced to between 18 and 20 months in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for supposed “incitement to create social chaos.” Amnesty International called the convictions “outrageous.”