Cambodia in brief: October 27, 2016

Tiger Head mastermind Som Ek recaptured in Siem Reap after jail break
Som Ek, leader of the antigovernment Tiger Head Movement and convicted mastermind of a plot in 2009 to bomb the Ministry of Defence, was rearrested yesterday morning after escaping from custody earlier this month having served less than eight years of prison sentences spanning decades.

Doing business ranking falls: World Bank
Cambodia had another poor showing in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report. The Kingdom ranks 131 out of 190 countries this year, dropping four places in the index in what economists said was an indication that the country was struggling to keep up with the pace of reforms in more advanced economies.

Cambodia mulls Thai junta’s request for three extraditions
Cambodian authorities are “processing” a request from Thailand’s military government to extradite three Thai citizens for the crime of insulting the monarchy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Rainsy ban to protect airport, official claims
The official who issued the ban on opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s return to Cambodia defended his decision in a radio interview on Tuesday, explaining that the directive was issued to avoid damage to airport infrastructure in the event that demonstrations broke out.

Military voting scheme ‘concerning’: watchdog
An election watchdog yesterday announced it had uncovered plans to move registration stations closer to military bases in Kampong Speu, Tbong Khmum and Kampong Chhnang provinces.

Kandal beating death spurs concurrent inquiries
A Kandal prosecutor said yesterday that three concurrent investigations will be conducted into the death of a man alleged to have been beaten to death in police custody in Kandal’s Sa’ang district on Friday.

Cambodia on alert for US taxpayers
With the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the tax-collection arm of the United States government, stepping up its global sweep to catch American individuals and corporations hiding their overseas earnings, the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia yesterday held a presentation for investors and financial institutions to make sure they are in compliance with US tax laws so as to avoid the discomfort of an IRS probe.

Fear of arrest drove Adhoc chief abroad
Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, told the Post late Tuesday that he had no option but to leave Cambodia in May following “direct threats” from the Anti-Corruption Unit in April to arrest him if he continued to oppose the criminal charges against five current and former human rights officials.

Research shows full reach of indigenous population
Cambodia's indigenous groups populate much more of the country than was previously known, but many are also at risk of disappearing, according to yet-to-be-published research.

Local chiefs still key to registration, study finds
Despite having access to other sources of information about the election process, including television and smartphones, Cambodia’s urban poor remain heavily reliant on potentially biased village-level officials when it comes to voter registration, according to a new report.

Judiciary law changes brushed aside by CPP
The National Assembly’s permanent committee yesterday shot down opposition lawmaker Son Chhay’s proposed amendments to three controversial 2014 laws regulating the judiciary, ruling the suggested changes were too sweeping.

Senator Sok Hour’s incitement trial ends
Lawyers for jailed opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour told the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on the final day of his trial yesterday that prosecutors had failed to provide enough evidence to support claims he forged a public document and incited social chaos.

Sovannara not allowed to travel
The Supreme Court opted to uphold a lower court’s verdict yesterday, ruling that Meach Sovannara, the jailed information chief of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, cannot leave Cambodia to seek medical treatment.

Study examines Khmer Rouge rationale
The mass killings that took place under the reign of the Khmer Rouge were justified by an ideology that identified dissidents as “toxic”, but such a mentality was not at the root of why lower-level cadre slaughtered their fellow Cambodians, a new report argues.

Thirty garment workers hurt in truck crash
Thirty garment workers were injured in Kampong Chhnang province’s Samaki Meanchey district on Tuesday night when the truck they were travelling in collided with a tourist bus.

Ex-officer denies antagonising Vietnam
Former Khmer Rouge commander Chuon Thy yesterday vehemently denied that his unit encroached on Vietnamese territory in testimony before the Khmer Rouge tribunal, claiming Democratic Kampuchea soldiers only defended Cambodia’s border.

Miners ask Hun Sen to let them dig deeper
More than 500 villagers in Mondulkiri’s Chung Phlas’ mining community thumbprinted a letter sent to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and its provincial counterpart, requesting that those holding a community mining licence be allowed to dig below the current limit of 20 metres.

Trade deal to reduce tariffs with Vietnam
Cambodia and Vietnam inked an agreement yesterday to drop import tariffs on dozens of products in an effort to boost bilateral trade.

Software for cleaner money
Tess International, a Malaysia-based provider of software solutions for the financial sector, signed a distributor agreement yesterday with Cambodian management consulting and business technology firm IdeaLink Consulting to provide software to Cambodian banks and microfinance institutions that helps them combat financial crimes.

Push for border use of local currencies
Business leaders from the Lower Mekong region are urging their respective governments to use local currencies for trading in border regions instead of the US dollar, arguing that this would facilitate business transactions and reduce exchange costs, a Thai newspaper reported yesterday.

Telcotech leads race for undersea cable
Telcotech, a subsidiary of local internet provider Ezecom, announced yesterday that it is nearing completion of Cambodia’s first submarine fibre-optic cable, which it expects to be operational by early next year.