Prominent Journalist Jailed, NK Hackers Target Kingdom, U.S. Navy Invited to Ream
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, October 4, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
TRUTH OUT: The government’s war on dissent ensnared an award-winning reporter and a maid working in Malaysia. Criticizing officials, even mildly, can mean years in prison.
EDGE CASE: Police rescued 67 Indians trapped in a Poipet cyber scam mill, among some 800 rescued this year. The top trafficking official blamed India for letting its citizens accept jobs in Cambodia.
SAW BLADE: Environmental officials banned tree cutting at the Stung Meteuk dam, where widespread illegal logging has been documented. Activists fear the ban is more bark than bite.
TALKING POINTS
Bad Press
More awful news for the Kingdom’s fourth estate.
Authorities jailed one of the country’s top journalists for incitement over a series of social media posts, sparking outrage and ominous headlines around the world.
Mech Dara’s reporting exposed the country’s cyber scam industry. Some suspect his arrest was payback for U.S. sanctions against senator Ly Yong Phat, who has ties to scams mills and crime figures.
The arrest blows a hole in government efforts to reform the Kingdom’s bad reputation and lure foreign investment — and it will do little to reassure Western governments that Cambodia is serious about reform.
Paper Trail
Remember the $2 billion Singapore money laundering scandal?
Nine of the 10 suspects had links to Cambodia, with several holding Cambodian passports. The widely reported ties were a blow to the Kingdom’s image, exposing high-level government complicity in the country’s notorious pig-butchering scams.
What’s the Kingdom’s answer to all the bad publicity? Stop publishing data on new citizenships — of course.
The move, combined with the Mech Dara’s arrest, appears to cement the CPP-led government’s relentless campaign to control all the information that informs the national narrative.
Fake Friends
A North Korean government hacking group known as InkySquid has bombarded Cambodian targets in a yearlong cyber assault.
The attack is the second time in as many years that Cambodia has been victimized by perceived allies. Last November, at least two dozen government organizations were found to have been compromised by Chinese government hacking groups.
It’s not clear what the North Korean hackers are after, said Securonix, the digital security company that discovered the strike. Yet reports of billions in crypto transactions passing through Huione Guarantee, the online cyber scam marketplace with ties to the Hun family, would make a tempting jackpot for bad actors.
THE LEDE
Guest List
The British Royal Navy made a two-day stop in Sihanoukville for joint training exercises. The visit comes as the Kingdom works to repair its image in the West. Cambodia, in a goodwill gesture to Washington, invited the U.S. navy to visit Ream Naval Base once China-funded upgrades are complete.
Foul Language
Are there no insults too trivial for the Kingdom’s fanatical Facebook police? At the government’s request, Malaysian authorities deported a Cambodian domestic worker to Phnom Penh, where she was jailed on incitement charges for a post calling the Strongman “despicable.”
Log Jam
The Ministry of Environment banned forest clearing at the Stung Meteuk hydropower project after reports of widespread illegal logging at the site, which is being developed by a company with ties to Ly Yong Phat. Activists are skeptical the ban will be enforced against such a powerful figure.
Ticket Punch
The losses keep piling up for organized labor. Union workers at the bus company Giant Ibis were strong-armed into accepting severance payouts far below the legal requirement — ending a hard-fought battle that began during the pandemic. “We fear being threatened with court proceedings,” said the group’s leader. “And our union members don’t have the capacity to continue protesting.”
Safe House
Police rescued 67 Indians from a scam mill in Poipet city. The Kingdom’s top counter-trafficking official blamed authorities in India for letting their citizens accept jobs in Cambodia. No arrests were announced for the scam center’s owners or management.
Trust Issues
The Strongman is making a second pitch for CoolApp, the messaging platform developed by the government’s propaganda outlet, Fresh News. The app has yet to catch on despite Hun Sen’s endorsement — or perhaps because of it — with only 300,000 downloads since its June launch. The app has been dogged with privacy concerns due to its makers’ ties with the ruling CPP.
Party On
Hun Manet has promised a record-breaking Water Festival 2024, with more fireworks, concerts and art performances. The three-day spectacle is scheduled for Nov. 14-16 in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, with smaller events expected in provincial capitals. Takeo will hold boat races Nov. 2-3.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
RCAF Now Blames Spirits for Soldier’s Death
October 1, 2004
The investigation into the suspected torture of RCAF soldier Ny Sok Rorn took another turn Thursday as RCAF Border Battalion 204 again altered its explanations for his death.
Ship Flying Cambodian Flag Busted for Drugs
September 30, 2004
A boat caught off the coast of South America with more than 13,600 kg of cocaine was carrying a Cambodian flag but was no longer registered in this country, officials said Wednesday.
Briton Held in Killing Released After 13 Months
September 28, 2004
A British man arrested last year for axing to death a US citizen in Koh Kong province has been released from jail, a court official and the man’s lawyers said.
WEEKEND READING
Inside the Yakuza's Growing Empire of Crime in Cambodia
In 2011, Japan cracked down on organized crime. The Yakuza promptly relocated to the Cambodian seaside.
Photos: Mech Dara, U.S. Chief of Mission Cambodia via Twitter.