Mondulkiri ‘Black Magic’ Murders, Myanmar Boycott, Rithy Panh Award
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, February 18, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
TRENDING TOPIC: Score one for Cambodia’s raucous social media users, who gained a reprieve from a scheduled “gateway” that would have given the state control of all web traffic.
BIG IN JAPAN: Hun Manet showed off some global statecraft skills on a four-day trip to Tokyo, where the government wants better ties to offset China’s rise.
BLOOD DEBT: A Chinese man said he was drugged and abducted to Cambodia, where Chinese gangsters regularly sold his blood and then threatened to sell his organs.
THE LEDE
Firewall Stall
Cambodia’s technocrats pulled the plug on the government’s plan to install a Chinese-style internet firewall — at least for now.
The so-called national internet gateway, which was scheduled to go live Wednesday, would have routed all internet traffic, even from abroad, through a single, state-run choke-point. Authorities would have gained unchecked control over the information superhighway.
Insiders suggested the government’s ambitions outpaced its tech skills, describing a vast program badly in need of expertise and hardware.
Officials gave no indication when the internet gateway might be ready.
Myanmar Mess
Myanmar’s domestic crisis dominated talks at the annual gathering of ASEAN foreign ministers in Phnom Penh. Myanmar’s military rulers, who seized power in a coup 13 months ago, boycotted the event.
Continued violence in Myanmar has troubled the group, which urgently requested meetings between ASEAN’s special envoy and the country’s imprisoned opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Cambodia, the 2022 ASEAN chair, said the special envoy would visit Myanmar next month. Whether the junta allows the diplomat to meet with opposition leaders is doubtful.
Sorcery Suspects
The killings were as brutal as they were bizarre.
A group of men in Mondulkiri confessed to slaying a family of five, including a 5-year-old boy, because they suspected the victims of using black magic to commit murder.
It was the third sorcery-related homicide in rural Cambodia in recent months — and the practice is well-documented. The U.N. reported 35 sorcery-related murders from 2012 to 2018.
Killings typically occur in remote areas, where healthcare and education are scarce. They often follow unexplained illnesses or deaths. Victims are often described as anti-social.
TALKING POINTS
Film Award
“Everything Will Be OK,” the new movie from Cambodian filmmaking icon Rithy Panh, claimed a top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie, which Variety called “arthouse maximalism,” ponders life after animals have enslaved humanity.
Tokyo Tour
Hun Manet, the prime minister’s eldest son and heir apparent, spoke with top officials during a four-day visit to Tokyo but did not meet the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. For Hun Manet, the visit showcased his statesmanship amid mixed support for his political rise back home.
Naga Strike
NagaWorld union members are planning a return to the picket line after 10 days of forced quarantine. City Hall on Tuesday banned protesters from gathering near the casino and ordered them to assemble in Freedom Park, nearly 10km away. A showdown seems inevitable.
Kem Sokha
The treason trial against Kem Sokha resumed with proceedings quickly devolving into sarcasm-drenched bickering over video timestamps, transcription typos and other minutiae. The judge admonished both sides for unruly behavior. Kem Sokha hopes for a quick verdict so he can compete in upcoming elections.
Pyongyang Profit
Phnom Penh hit back at claims that North Korean spies ran a lucrative business empire in Cambodia. Korean media had reported that until mid-2020, the Hermit Kingdom operated a highly profitable array of hotels, restaurants, casinos and more — likely with Cambodian government complicity.
Blood Slave
Speaking from a Phnom Pen hospital, a Chinese man told a harrowing tale of being drugged and kidnapped to Cambodia, where his captors forcibly drew so much blood it nearly killed him. When he could no longer meet his regular blood quota, they threatened to sell his organs.
Scam-bodia
Police arrested more than 20 Thai nationals in raids across Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. Thai police said the accused worked for Chinese call-center gangs that bilked compatriots of more than $30 million. There were no reports of Chinese nationals arrested.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Teacher Recalls KR Education Crackdown
February 18, 2002
To this day teacher U Hoeur, 74, sees his old students in Tenlot Meloo village and waits for them to speak. Sometimes they taunt him for being a part of the old regime. Sometimes they thank him for his hard work. Few of them ever mention his five colleagues killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Ke Pauk Dies, Is Buried in Anlong Veng
February 18, 2002
Cambodia on Sunday saw the burial of the man who some observers say was not only a key figure in the massacre of millions of his people, but also a key piece of evidence for the now-endangered Khmer Rouge tribunal.
UN-Backed KR Trial Still A Possibility
February 11, 2002
Despite the UN’s surprise decision Friday to pull out of preparations for trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders, diplomats, government officials and political observers said it’s still possible the world body could participate in the tribunal.
WEEKEND READS
In Cambodia’s Siem Reap, $880m airport faces hurdles to success
Ambitious plan to attract 10 million travelers is complicated by broken contracts and an uncertain pandemic recovery.
Cambodia’s internet gateway debut leaves analysts in the dark
Just days before Cambodia’s national internet gateway is scheduled to take effect, analysts and civil society organizations say they know scarcely more about its rollout than when the decree was first signed into law last year.
Malady and Magic: The Murders of Cambodia’s ‘Black Magic’ Practitioners
Pleng Komsot accused his stepfather of being a sorcerer and using black magic to harm others. So he killed him.