Hun Sen Stalled in French Court, Farming Czar Sacked, Monsoon Storms Stretch On
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, October 14, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
SEEDS SOWN: When it rains it pours, especially if you’re Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture, who was abruptly fired amid a struggling farming sector that has been hammered by recent storms.
FAUX PAS: Information Minister Khieu Kanahirth’s recent sexist blunder shows there is still some confusion between Facebook posts and catcalls. Critics said they expect better from high officials.
HIGH MARKS: The Wat Bo district of Siem Reap was awarded “coolest neighborhood in Asia” by a global magazine. Citing the area’s chic atmosphere, it was also ranked the third coolest in the world.
THE LEDE
No Decision
Call it a draw. Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy battled to a standstill in a Paris court, with both sides claiming victory in a defamation suit launched by the premier and his son-in-law.
The court judged that Sam Rainsy’s comments, accusing Hun Sen of masterminding the deaths of two prominent officials, were defamatory, but declined to rule against him. It said a conviction would infringe on his free-speech rights on cases that were “clearly a matter of major general interest.”
Hun Sen said he sued the former CNRP leader to prove his innocence, but the move may have backfired, returning the deaths — and the ham-fisted investigations into them — back to the public spotlight.
Flood Damage
The shock dismissal of the agricultural minister brought hope to farmers swamped by an extended monsoonal deluge.
Farm groups and activists applauded the move, and Hun Sen ordered his replacement to urgently address the needs of the Kingdom’s farmers, who have been hammered by months of severe flooding. Around 150,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged, 85,000 families have been affected, and at least 20 people have died.
The monsoon season, which typically ends in October, has been prolonged by a La Nina weather pattern and could continue through December.
Finish Line
After five long years, Kem Sokha’s treason trial appears to be coming to a close.
Judges this week announced the end of witness testimony and said closing arguments could begin as early as next week. Prosecutors have tried to paint the former CRNP president as a radical American stooge bent on a so-called color revolution.
Kem Sokha was arrested in September 2017 and charged with plotting to overthrow the government. The case has been widely decried by rights activists and Western governments. He faces life in prison if convicted.
TALKING POINTS
Street Vibes
The Wat Bo district in Siem Reap city was voted “the coolest neighborhood in Asia” by Timeout Magazine. It placed third in the world. The magazine cited the area’s diverse nighttime haunts, eclectic restaurants and chic hotels for the award.
Back in Black
Cambodia got its stolen oil back — after more than a year of international legal wrangling — and promptly sold it to an undisclosed buyer, pocketing about $14 million. The Kingdom lost some 300,000 barrels last year when the drilling company went bust and the tanker storing the oil fled to Indonesia.
Court Cost
The Phnom Penh court ordered Son Chhay, vice president of the Candlelight Party, to pay $750,000 in damages and apologize to the CPP. The opposition chief accused the ruling party of buying and intimidating voters, and said the poll did not reflect the will of the people. A CPP lawyer said the comments had hurt voters' feelings.
Star Power
Cambodian-French filmmaker Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul” took top honors at the Athens International Film Festival. The movie tells the story of 25-year-old Freddie — born in South Korea but adopted and raised in France — as she impulsively visits Seoul to search for her true parents.
Bad Neighbors
Police raids in Sihanoukville have chased the city’s notorious cyberscam compounds further into the provinces. Foreign workers have been arriving by the busload in Bavet — a dusty casino town on the Vietnamese border — and filling heavily guarded buildings. Investigators say the dragnet has only “decentralized” criminal networks. No gang leaders have been arrested, and they remain free to set up shop elsewhere.
Old Bull
Khieu Kanharith, the Kingdom’s longstanding information minister, stumbled into an internet firestorm with a Facebook post about the capital’s chaotic traffic. The minister “joked” that motorists had stopped at a Phnom Penh traffic light because of a woman whose figure was contoured by headlights. Social media users called the post “careless” and “disrespectful,” saying they expected better from high officials.
Mad Stacks
A popular online cosmetics magnate expanded her collection of luxury automobiles, adding a $350,000 candy-apple red Ferrari. She already owns a Cadillac Escalade, and multiple Jaguars and Range Rovers. Moral of story: Cambodian Facebook sales are legit.
Long Exposure
A collection of 40 photographs and artworks spanning 170 years of Cambodian history is on display at MetaHouse until mid-November. The exhibit includes an array of memorabilia, including 100-year-old images and contemporary art from notables such as Leang Seckon and Julien Paulson.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Politician: ‘Ghost Soldiers’ Prove Corruption
October 11, 2002
A portion of the government’s demobilization program is riddled with “ghost soldiers” who either do not exist or who have already died, leaving millions of dollars in international donor funding available for plunder by the government, with the World Bank’s knowledge, according to parliamentarian Son Chhay.
King Plays Down Rumors of Abdication Plan
October 10, 2002
King Norodom Sihanouk refused Wednesday to put to rest rumors that he is considering abdication.
Chhouk Rin’s Life Sentence In the Mail
October 9, 2002
Cambodia’s often-criticized postal system was blamed Tuesday for prolonging the freedom of former Khmer Rouge chief Chhouk Rin, who was recently sentenced to life in prison for the 1994 kidnapping and slaying of three Western tourists.
Orphans Busted for Logging
October 8, 2002
Mired in poverty, three Kompong Chhnang province orphans recently went into the forest and felled trees, breaking the government’s logging moratorium to survive, they say.
WEEKEND READING
Cambodia’s elites swallow up Phnom Penh’s lakes, leaving the poor marooned
Lakes in Phnom Penh are fast being filled in and parceled off as prime real estate to wealthy and politically connected individuals.
Facing Death Threats, CNRP Exiles in Thailand Seek Safer Refuge
On September 15, Duong Chantra received an anonymous message on Facebook in which the sender threatened to kill him and two colleagues.
Photos: Sam Rainsy, Facebook. Siem Reap, Wikimedia.
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