Fees to hit vendors at new Stung Treng market

Kong Meta, The Phnom Penh Post
Thu, 28 July 2016

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday met with Stung Treng market vendors and reiterated his promise to pay for the reconstruction of the town’s market which burned down in April, according to his Facebook page.

However, vendors will have to pay new daily and annual fees to use the facility.

The market will be in the same location and is being paid for by the prime minister and

Foreign Ministry blames Manila for blocking South China Sea statement

Vong Sokheng and AFP
The Phnom Penh Post, Thu, 28 July 2016

Tired of being labelled the “bad boy” in the ongoing drama around the South China Sea, the Cambodian delegation to the recent ASEAN foreign ministers summit yesterday said it was China’s loudest critic on the issue – the Philippines – that had ultimately stripped language related to its recent arbitration victory from a joint statement.

Speaking to reporters on his return to Phnom Penh International Airport, Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry chided critics for accusations Cambodia had pushed to strip references to The Hague verdict, something for which Chinese officials have publicly thanked them.

“We would like to say that the Philippines foreign minister acknowledged it’s an issue between

Cambodia, Vietnam to build market on border

Hor Kimsay, The Phnom Penh Post
Thu, 28 July 2016

The Vietnamese government yesterday agreed in principle to provide a grant of $2 million to Cambodia to build a model market aimed at boosting cross-border trade between the two countries, officials at Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce said.

The market will be constructed on 1.5 hectares in Kandorl village, in the Memot district of Tbong Khmum province, about 1 kilometre from the nearest Cambodia-Vietnam border crossing, according to Mao Thora, a secretary of state at the ministry.

“The market will be a place to sell both Cambodian and Vietnamese goods, of which I think

Troop redeployment routine, says Defence Ministry

Mech Dara, The Phnom Penh Post
Thu, 28 July 2016

Another convoy of military vehicles has been filmed on Cambodia’s roads but, despite the heightened political tension, a Defence Ministry spokesman characterised it as regular troop rotation.

Uploaded yesterday morning to social media, the video appeared to show at least 20 troop-carrying trucks headed north, away from Phnom Penh, on National Road 6 in Kampong Cham province.

It follows the circulation of several videos, beginning early last week, of military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers and tanks being transported to the capital.

Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat confirmed on Monday that “all tanks” from the border in Preah Vihear province had been recalled to bases around Phnom Penh for repairs. Socheat also confirmed the troops stationed at the border province, including members of the

Accused Kem Ley killer not cooperating: ministry

Mech Dara, The Phnom Penh Post
Thu, 28 July 2016
Oeut Ang, 44, the alleged killer of political analyst Kem Ley, is not answering investigators’ questions and has refused to acknowledge his parents, according to a senior Interior Ministry official.

“The perpetrator did not answer anything and did not recognise his parents,” Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told local news outlet Kampuchea Thmey yesterday.

Sopheak, who could not be contacted by the Post yesterday, also said the security camera footage from the Phnom Penh petrol station where Ley was shot on July 10 had been sent to court and would be released once the investigation was completed, though he did not provide a time frame.

In a video released by police, Ang called himself Choub Samlab or “meet to kill”, and initially “confessed” to killing Ley because he owed Ang $3,000; however, interviews with the suspect’s wife, mother and neighbours have cast some doubt over that motive.

Cambodia court orders self-exiled opposition leader to pay 40,000 USD for defamation case

ource: Xinhua   2016-07-28 13:55:22

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Thursday ordered self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to pay a compensation and fine of 160 million riel (40,000 U.S. dollars) after the court found him guilty of defaming National Assembly president Heng Samrin.

"The court orders Sam Rainsy to pay a compensation of 150 million riel (37,500 U.S. dollars) to the plaintiff and a fine of 10 million riel (2,500 U.S. dollars)," said the verdict pronounced by Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Ros Piseth.

The verdict was released after a 40-minute hearing in which the plaintiff's lawyer was present, as Sam Rainsy and his lawyer were absent.

Heng Samrin filed a defamation suit against Sam Rainsy in December after the opposition leader posted a video clip on his Facebook page in November, claiming that Heng Samrin, who was the top leader during the 1980s regime, had indicted late King Norodom Sihanouk of being a traitor and sentenced him, in absentia, to death.
Sam Rainsy, leader of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, has been in self-imposed exile in France since November to avoid a two-year-prison sentence in a 2008 defamation case brought by Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong.