Month: February 2007

Tuesday, 27.2.2007: An Initial Investigation Finds That High-Ranking Officials Of The Cambodian People’s Party Are Behind The Release Of Chai Hour II Hotel Owner

The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 497

“An official of the Ministry of Justice said on condition of anonymity that Thou Mony, a judge of the Appeals Court, had decided to withdraw allegations against Nim Sophea, Hun Sen’s nephew. He decided also to release Te Pao Ly, called Long [the owner of the Chai Hour II Hotel], and Som Leang [the Chai Hour II Hotel supervisor].

Now Thou Mony has been appointed already as a trial judge for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. He does not know what his fate might be in future because he is now being investigated. Therefore, he is just waiting to see the decision of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy.

“But this official of the Ministry of Justice believes that the Appeals Court Judge Thou Mony would probably not be punished, because those who intervened to release the Chai Hour II Hotel owner and supervisor were high-ranking officials of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP]. Last week on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that judges have their own discretion to decide a case, but when the Chai Hour II Hotel owner was released, there must have been persons who intervened. Now Hun Sen wants to know who made an intervention in this case. Therefore he ordered the Ministry of Justice to start an investigation into this case, because the Ministry of Justice is both a part of the government and a member of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy.

“Hun Sen claimed that no one had reported the release of the Chai Hour II Hotel owner to him; but when there was information about the re-arresting of the same persons again, he realized that there must have been information about releasing this hotel owner by outside intervention instead. Now, as head of the government, he had to lodge a complaint in this case.

“According to an unidentified Western diplomat, there are still many issues that Hun Sen did not know, or he pretended not to know, where officials under his leadership had made mistakes. Corruption and injustice of court officials, and acts of cruelty of the armed forces that made people suffer – but there had not yet been solutions for these problems, even if there were many people who demonstrated, holding both his and his wife’s photos to appeal to Hun Sen for help.

“This diplomat said that Hun Sen often said to members of the national and international public that he is a member of Cambodia’s CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency – whatever is happening in Cambodia he knows – but why did he not know that the court released the Chai Hour II Hotel owner?

“The diplomat added with regard to Hun Sen’s reaction to the release of the Chai Hour II Hotel owner, that the court is responsible for this case, but it is not yet known whether or not the Supreme Council of the Magistracy dares to punish the judges who made mistakes.

“According to another unidentified official of the Ministry of Justice, an order to investigate the release of the Chai Hour II Hotel owner was issued only to look good, but in fact no judge or any other person who intervened was to be punished, because those who were behind the release were all high-ranking CPP officials.

“According to police officials of the Ministry of Interior, the arrest of the Chai Hour II Hotel owner was the result of a controversy rather than a real crackdown on human trafficking, because there are women who do sex–related business in a number of massage and karaoke lounges. As long as customers like them, they agree about a price for having sex – in such places like in the Washington Karaoke Club, the Paris Massage Club, the Chay Hong Massage Club, and so on. These are not only places for finding girls to have sex, but these places are also casinos. Why have there not been more crackdowns? Therefore, the arrest of the Chay Hour II Hotel owner was probably the result of a conflict of personal interests rather than of the government’s will to crack down on human trafficking.” Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3096, 27.2.2007

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 27 February 2007

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1277, 27.2.2007

  • Phnom Penh Municipality Rejects Norodom Ranariddh Party Proposal To Hold A Non-Violence Demonstration [on 4 March, at Olympic Stadium]
  • Which Member Of Parliament Grabs 1.5-Hectare Of People’s Land, Including Their Relatives’ Tombs? [Say Yan, called Say Mongkul, Member of Parliament, FUNCINPEC,, claimed that he has the the land ownership title]
  • A Young Man Brought His Girlfriend To A Guesthouse For Sex, Then Shared Her With His Six Friends [her long-time boyfriend had asked her on the phone to hang out at 11 p.m. After first refusing she agreed to go to a guesthouse where the other boys waited to rape her. They all left leaving her alone until morning. She told her mother and went at her mother’s hand to file a complaint at the police, giving the identities of the boys whom she all knew]
  • Keo Remy, Member Of Parliament [Sam Rainsy Party] From Phnom Penh, Proposes To Nguyen Phu Trong, President Of The National Assembly Of Vietnam, To Help Solve Khmer Krom Problems Concerning The Rights Of Khmer Kampuchea Krom People To Freedom And Religion [recently, they claim their rights have been violated]

Koh Santehpeap, Vol.40, #5977, 27.2.2007

  • The Japan Assistance Team For Small Arms Management In Cambodia Prepares To Hold Workshop On Arms Control [from February to March]
  • Transporting Hundreds Of Canisters Of Not Taxed Gasoline From The Vietnamese Border [through border-crossings such as Tanou, Kruos, and Srae Baraing, in Svay Chrom district]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3096, 27.2.2007

  • Hun Sen’s Announcement On Minister Of Rural Development Lu Laysreng’s Land Is Only A Pretext Of The Ruling Party For Cheating The People [he is having serious land disputes with 250 families in Balelay, Poipet, Ou Chhrov, in Banteay Meanchey]
  • Takeo Border Police Tightens Restrictions On Khmer Krom People Not To Enter Cambodia, But They Let Vietnamese Enter Freely
  • An Initial Investigation Finds Out That High-Ranking Officials Of The CCP Are Behind The Release Of Chai Hour II Hotel Owner

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4222, 27.2.2007

  • Cho Ray Hospital: There Was A Person Pretending To Be The Father Of The Singer Pov Panhapich [trying to visit her, but he was not allowed in – her father had died some time ago]
  • Samdech Hun Sen: [Khmer Rouge victim’s bones as] Evidences At Cheung Ek Genocide Memorial Are Very Important For Khmer Rouge Trial [statement during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Prek Chhray Bridge construction, approximately one kilometer south of the Cheung Ek Memorial]
  • The National Center For Tuberculosis And Leprosy Control Prepares To Provide Treatment For Children With TB In Accordance With New WHO Instructions

Reach Seima News, Vol. 2, #158, 27.2.2007

  • A Bodyguard’s Unidentified Mistress Who Wanted To Cross Into Vietnam Is Hit Unconscious By A Group Of Vietnamese Mototaxi Drivers In Kandal’s Chrey Thom Market, As Singer Pov Panhapich Is Hospitalized In Vietnam [Vietnamese mototaxi drivers disagreed that Khmer motorcycles or vehicles with Khmer license plates are allowed to enter Vietnam]

Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #2977, 27.2.2007

  • The Norodom Ranariddh Party Leadership And Samdech Krom Preah’s Attorney Seek Ways To Ensure His Safety Before He Returns To Cambodia [now he is a proctor at examinations at Aix-en Provence University, France]

Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #339, 27.2.2007

  • Bad Officials Run To The Council Of Ministers To Get Declarations Issued To Illegally Grab Land Which Has Already Owners [land already owned by someone in Bayab, Phnom Penh Thmey, Russey Keo, for which Mr. Prak Sokhun, a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers, issued a declaration already twice]

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