Facing imminent threats of closure and legal action over a disputed $6.3 million tax bill, The Cambodia Daily will cease operations as of today, bringing to a close more than 24 years of independent journalism.
“The power to tax is the power to destroy. And after 24 years and 15 days, the Cambodian government has destroyed The Cambodia Daily, a special and singular part Cambodia’s free press,” said the Daily’s owner Deborah Krisher- Steele.
6:45 p.m.: Hing Soksan, the head of the CNRP’s youth wing, said he narrowly escaped arrest this evening as plainclothes police officers swarmed his home in Phnom Penh.
Speaking to reporters by telephone while fleeing his house at around 6 p.m., Mr. Soksan declined to say where he was going, saying only that he was heading somewhere safe.
“The police are raiding my house,” he said. “Now I escaped through the other door…. I cannot say anything about my whereabouts or my house location.”
Kem Monovithiya, the CNRP’s deputy head of public affairs, confirmed the incident but said it was unclear why the youth leader was being threatened with arrest.
1:18 p.m.: The opposition’s meeting to discuss the arrest of its leader is over, but the party would not divulge what—if anything—it has decided to do.
“Any party that harms free and fair elections, please take responsibility yourself and face the international community,” CNRP Vice President Mu Sochua said as she left party headquarters.
Ms. Sochua would not answer questions about the party’s plans, or who could replace Kem Sokha, who has been arrested over accusations of treason, if it came to that.
12:15 p.m.: CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann has left a meeting of party leaders in a rush without speaking to reporters.
The opposition party had been discussing at party headquarters what steps to take after the arrest of its leader, Kem Sokha, overnight.
Earlier, CNRP lawmaker Real Camerin spoke in support of Mr. Sokha before entering the meeting, saying, “My boss, Kem Sokha, never said anything about color revolution. Never told us about a plan to topple the government. Not at all.”
“Kem Sokha, our leader, never wants to make war. I myself have already experienced war. Who wants to experience war again? Why? He wants us to be peaceful and stay calm,” Mr. Camerin said.
11:09 a.m.: “Troops are mobilizing around the city of Tbong Khmum and they’re heading to CC3,” said Ly Heng, an executive committee member for the CNRP in Tbong Khmum province.
The party’s supporters in the province are now gathering to form a plan about what to do, Mr. Heng said.
10:11 a.m.: Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights chairman Charles Santiago has called the arrest of Kem Sokha overnight “alarming,” and an attempt to “crush” and “cripple” the opposition in Cambodia.
“If members of the international community, including and especially donors, fail to speak up and take action now, they risk ending up complicit in Cambodia’s descent into outright dictatorship,” Mr. Santiago said in a statement.
“The arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha early this morning takes the ongoing crackdown by the ruling party in Cambodia to an alarming new level. With national elections on the horizon, it is clear that this is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to crush the opposition before the campaign even starts. For months, we have been witnessing the escalation of government attempts to cripple the opposition, but it appears now that Prime Minister Hun Sen is so afraid of what might happen in a genuine vote, he won’t allow for competition at all,” Mr. Santiago added.
“Kem Sokha’s arrest is a blatant violation of parliamentary immunity protections under the Cambodian constitution and an affront to the rule of law. He should be immediately and unconditionally released.”
9:40 a.m.: CNRP politicians have started to arrive at party headquarters in Phnom Penh amid ongoing confusion about their leader’s situation, and have questioned whether he was actually moved out of the capital as the Interior Ministry has stated.
Lawmaker Ho Vann told reporters that “it is not confirmed whether or not he is at Correctional Center 3 in Tbong Khmum…. Only Khieu Sopheak said that,” referring to the ministry spokesman.
Mr. Sokha’s daughter Kem Monovithya also tweeted that according to her “reliable source,” her father could still be detained in Phnom Penh.
Mr. Vann added that eight bodyguards had been arrested alongside Mr. Sokha.
7:57 a.m.: Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Kem Sokha had been moved to Correctional Center 3 Prison in Tbong Khmum province at about 1 or 2 a.m. He would not explain why Mr. Sokha had been moved from Phnom Penh, saying it was the courts’ decision.
“The court has the right to decide whatever they can,” General Sopheak said.
Gen. Sopheak added that Mr. Sokha had not yet been charged—“only accused,” he said.
He said Mr. Sokha’s parliamentary immunity did not apply in this case because it was “an on-the-spot arrest,” and authorities had the right to hold him for 72 hours before taking further action.
7:40 a.m.: CNRP Vice President Mu Sochua said party leaders would meet “sometime this morning” to plan the next steps following party president Kem Sokha’s arrest. When asked if the party and its supporters planned to demonstrate against the arrest, Ms. Sochua would only say that the party had already put out a statement condemning it.
“At the moment the top level of CNRP will be meeting this morning, because it all happened very suddenly,” she said.
2:05 a.m. (updated 4:45 a.m.): Cambodia’s opposition leader Kem Sokha has been arrested for “treason” following a raid on his house overnight Sunday, according to a government statement and opposition officials, a move immediately slammed as a “disastrous setback” for human rights and democracy.
The CNRP party president was arrested at his house in the Toul Kok area of Phnom Penh at 12:35 a.m. on Sunday, the statement said.
The World Bank has appointed a new director for Cambodia, Burma and Laos, it said in a media statement on Tuesday.
Ellen Goldstein, a 30-year veteran at the bank and previously the director for the West Balkans and earlier for Bangladesh and Nepal, will be based out of Rangoon, “reflecting the deepening of its partnership with Myanmar,” the statement says.
The Adhoc 5, a group of current and former rights workers who have spent more than a year in provisional detention on bribery charges widely seen as politically motivated, tasted freedom for the first time in 427 days after they were released on bail last night.
In a surprise move by Investigating Judge Theam Chan Piseth, the five were released from two prisons where they had been held for more than a year in jail.
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter, veteran journalists at The Cambodia Daily, last night won a major Excellence in Investigative Reporting award from the Society of Publishers in Asia, which held a gala event in Hong Kong.
The pair won for their investigative feature, “Still Taking a Cut” (December 16), which exposed military involvement in Cambodia’s illegal timber trade. Mr. Pheap and Mr. Peter are currently facing court action from authorities in Ratanakkiri province for a separate story.
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Cambodia’s changing demographic destiny is a topic of regular speculation.
A youthful population, with more than two-thirds of the country under the age of 35 as of 2013, both offers the promise of a rising post-Khmer Rouge generation and raises questions about how those young Cambodians will shape the country they inherit.
This year’s Project Inspire explores the question of where young people will fit into a burgeoning economy. Specifically, the event will focus on undervalued professions, like teaching and art, with a series of talks aimed at broadening the range of potential jobs young people might consider pursuing.
The event will also feature performances by singer/songwriter Sai Bt and performing arts troupe Amrita.
Saturday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Center, located at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Tickets are $2.50 apiece. For more information, contact 085 539 959 or [email protected].
Ex-Royalist Bags KNUP Commune
While 1,645 of the country’s 1,646 communes were divvied up between the ruling CPP and opposition CNRP during Sunday’s ballot, one remote commune in Banteay Meanchey province went against the grain once again and handed the Khmer National United Party (KNUP) its first-ever commune chief position.
Da Chhean, who defected from Funcinpec to the KNUP last year when former military commander Nhek Bun Chhay left the royalists to launch his own party, held his position as commune chief in Thma Puok district’s Thma Puok commune on the Thai border.
This is the second local election in a row in which Thma Puok has been the only commune in the country not to have voted in either the CPP or a major opposition party. It was Funcinpec’s sole commune chief position in 2012, so Mr. Chhean’s defection means his former party does not control a single commune in Cambodia. (George Wright)
Adhoc Defector Out on Top for CPP
Chhay Thy, the former Ratanakkiri provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc who made headlines in January when he defected to the ruling party, won the commune chief position in O’yadaw district’s Pate commune on Sunday.
Pate, which was the only commune in the northeastern province to elect an opposition chief in 2012, also saw the new Grassroots Democracy Party beat the CNRP for second place, according to the National Election Committee’s preliminary results. “I am very proud that the people voted for a CPP commune chief because they believed in my capacity to help their community,” Mr. Thy said. “We will do as promised, such as building a rural road accessible from their farms.” (Van Roeun)
Flooding Didn’t Stop Vote in Provinces
Flooded roads and polling stations as well as waterways clogged with water hyacinths were no match for determined voters and election officials in several provinces, National Election Committee (NEC) president Sik Bunhok said after the polls closed on Sunday.
Inundated roads temporarily blocked the delivery of election materials to polling stations in Oddar Meanchey, Kratie and Mondolkiri provinces, Mr. Bunhok said during a news conference in Phnom Penh. “Kratie and Mondolkiri required intervention by airplane in order to provide the election equipment to the polling offices,” he said.
In Battambang province’s Koh Chivaing commune, an overgrowth of water hyacinths threatened to stop voters and election officers from reaching polling stations located on the water and only accessible by boat, Mr. Bunhok said. That was until authorities moved them out of the way. In four provinces, flooded polling sites had to be moved to nearby higher ground, with signs placed at the original locations to notify voters, he said. (Phan Soumy)
Tuk-Tuk Driver-Cum-Observer Sees ‘No Problems’
Taking a day off from chauffeuring customers around Phnom Penh in his tuk-tuk, election observer Keo Phalla said on Sunday that voting had gone much more smoothly than his first time monitoring elections in 2013. “Since polls opened until now, it’s been good. There have been no problems,” said Mr. Phalla, 50, a short, cheery man wearing a blue polo.
An observer for election monitor Comfrel, he was stationed at Kolab Primary School in Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune. “Before, when they counted the votes, you couldn’t watch,” he said. “Now, we’ll be able to watch.”
He also noted that the ballots would be counted at the polling stations, an improvement over the last election, when they were moved to a separate office to be tallied. (Brendan O’Byrne and Matt Surrusco)
Vigilante Election Observer Voices Concerns on Results
Clutching a paper with a scribbled tally of Phsar Kandal 1 village election results, 38-year-old Khuy Hok reviewed his calculations various times on Sunday afternoon as he stood before the Tonle Sap riverside polling stations.
“I worry about the results,” the vigilante election observer said. “I am a bit worried about them announcing the results—that they might be different than the ones now.” According to his calculations, he said, the CNRP had won the commune chief position by 204 votes, with a total of 2018 across the villages. “When they announce the result, I’ll compare my results with the official one,” he said, peering down at his figures once more. (Buth Kimsay)
Younger Brother Unseats His Sibling in Takeo Tussle
In Takeo province’s Doung commune, Sunday night’s election was extra personal for CPP candidate and incumbent commune chief Nop Touch and his younger brother, CNRP challenger Nop Sokheng.
Mr. Sokheng ended up victorious in the contest, beating his sibling with 51.6 percent of the vote compared to Mr. Touch’s 39.3 percent. Contacted yesterday, Mr. Sokheng didn’t appear to be surprised by his victory. “Normally, [the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party] unite together well,” he said. “We weren’t afraid to lose.”
He said he hadn’t seen his brother, who couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday, since the result had been announced. Mr. Sokheng added that he would be getting right down to work, asking the government to bring canals and roads to his commune. “Now we are ready to fulfill our jobs and serve for the people’s benefit,” he said. (Ben Sokhean)