Wat Phnom Crime Spree, Sam Rainsy Life Sentence, Theary Seng Hunger Strike
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, October 21, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
COLD BLOOD: The opposition supporter gunned down on a fishing trip was murdered over an argument, authorities said, not politics. Even so, his wife said local police offered $10,000 to drop any charges.
WATER WOES: Hun Sen called the drowning of 15 students on a dilapidated wooden dinghy a national tragedy, launching safety reforms for the countless aging vessels that ply the Kingdom’s waterways.
STREET LEVEL: Late-night prostitution and crime at Wat Phnom have become so ugly the tree-lined neighborhood is now the butt of local jokes. One commentator called the situation “disgraceful.”
THE LEDE
Old Foes
The Strongman pulled no punches. He called Sam Rainsy a third-generation traitor, worse than the Khmer Rouge, and promised to cut off his own hand before allowing the opposition leader back into Cambodia with a pardon.
The outburst followed Sam Rainsy’s latest conviction in absentia — a life sentence for treason — and his call for supporters to derail Hun Sen’s succession plans in next year’s elections.
The CPP is expected to trounce what’s left of the opposition in July’s national poll, then facilitate the transfer of power from Hun Sen to his son.
Fight Game
NagaWorld, the multi-billion-dollar casino complex, is suing at least six employees for breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement, charges that carry up to 10 years in prison.
The workers, all union members, were baffled by the accusations and said the allegations did not reflect actual events.
The lawsuit landed the same day union members filmed the son of NagaWorld’s CEO grabbing and smashing a union member’s phone. Members said the case was meant to intimidate employees, and they expected more legal action ahead.
River Deaths
Families of the children killed in last week’s ferry tragedy are demanding answers and accountability. They want the two sisters who owned the ill-fated craft to admit responsibility, but stopped short of calling for their arrest.
The decrepit wooden boat, piloted by a 15-year old boy, capsized with 15 students on board. Only the captain, his assistant and one student survived. Fourteen drowned.
Hun Sen called it a national tragedy, and authorities rushed to update safety precautions for watercraft around the Kingdom. Countless aging wooden boats ply the nation’s waterways, many without life jackets or licensed operators.
TALKING POINTS
Hunger Strike
Theary Seng, the imprisoned Cambodian-American opposition activist, said she would stop eating on Tuesday. Her American lawyer promised a global pressure campaign for her release, keeping the case in the international spotlight.
Shots Fired
The shooting death of an opposition supporter by a security guard was the result of an argument, not politics, provincial authorities said. Officials declined to name the triggerman, or explain why the three officers and three security guards fled the scene. The victim’s wife said police offered her $10,000 to drop the charges.
Debt Trap
Nude selfies and extortion are the latest horrors faced by online scam victims — and the new targets are Cambodian women. Criminal loan sharks, run by Chinese and Malaysian gangs, charge monthly interest rates up to 80% and demand naked photos as collateral. When borrowers fail to pay, the nude photos are sent to family members.
Big Stick
The Kingdom’s new agriculture minister threatened to sue critics for defamation. Dith Tina, the son of a Supreme Court justice, has no experience in the agriculture sector. Farmers are facing a dire situation, including rising costs, falling commodity prices and flooding.
Faded Glory
Prostitution and street crime are sullying the capital’s namesake monument. Locals say that nights at Wat Phnom — a sacred site in daytime — have become so bad the neighborhood is the punchline of jokes. One history professor called the situation “disgraceful.”
Head Spins
Cambodia will field a team of breakdancers for the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh. The urban dance form originated on the streets of New York in the late 1970s and arrived in Cambodia during the early 2000s.
Art Scene
The high-season cultural calendar is in full swing. In Phnom Penh, The French Institute of Cambodia is showing a KlapYaHandz retrospective through Saturday, and The Factory is hosting a joint exhibit with 66 local and 25 foreign artists until November 10. In Pursat town, the 5th Khmer Literature Festival runs through Sunday.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
No Promised Plowshares for KR Minorities
October 21, 2002
Thun Sien has never visited Phnom Penh. His first language is not Khmer and his allegiance is firstly to his own Tampuon ethnic minority — not to Cambodia’s majority Khmer population.
Photographer Journeys to Provinces To Find Former Khmer Rouge Members Alive, Thinking About Past
October 19, 2002
It’s late in the afternoon and the children are restless in Meas Pengkry’s village. He asks that we go somewhere else before we start to talk about the life he used to lead.
Size of New Casino Buildings Angers Officials
October 16, 2002
Two Naga Casino buildings being built near Hun Sen an area in which tall buildings are ostensibly banned — are threatening to overshadow the headquarters of some of Cambodia’s most highly respected institutions and are angering some lawmakers and city officials.
Sok Yoeun’s Lawyers File Final Arguments
October 15, 2002
Lawyers for Sam Rainsy Party member Sok Yoeun, who is jailed in Bangkok awaiting a Nov 28 extradition verdict, filed their final arguments Wednesday in what has been a protracted bid by the Cambodian government to have the opposition party activist returned to face charges that he tried to kill Prime Minister Hun Sen in 1998.
WEEKEND READING
Police Accused of Gunning Down Farmer as Political Questions Arise
Po Hin Lean had only been home from the north for three days when he was shot dead in a rice field in the darkness of the night.
Buddhism and peace-building in Samlot District’s Kampong Lapov
Studies on Cambodian post-conflict peacemaking efforts by international communities and state-centric institutional support have been extensive. However, local peacebuilding efforts at a community level, which are increasingly active in this war-torn society, received scant attention.
Photos: Hun Manet, Facebook. NagaWorld protestors, Licadho.
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