| The body of former King Norodom Sihanouk was returned to Cambodia Wednesday, guided through the streets of the capital in a funeral procession as throngs of onlookers and mourners crowded the streets. VOA Khmer's Say Mony reports. |
| TONLE SAP LAKE, CAMBODIA — Villagers on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, who depend on fishing for subsistence, say their livelihoods are threatened by illegal commercial fishing, which continues after a government ban. And they say authorities in charge of enforcing the ban are being bribed to look the other way. Despite a government ban on commercial fishing across Tonle Sap Lake - |
The 31-year-old artist, who has been deaf and dumb since birth, told VOA Khmer in a
recent interview that the skills have helped him express his feelings through abstract paintings.
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BATTAMBANG Province - At Phare Ponleu Selpak, an arts organization in Battambang city, Ot Veasna has been learning painting for about five years now.
The 31-year-old artist, who has been deaf and dumb since birth, told VOA Khmer in a recent interview that the skills have helped him express his feelings through abstract paintings. Using sign language and an interpreter, he explained the meaning of the painting skills he is honing. |
| Cambodian authorities sentenced Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando to 20 years in jail, on charges related to an alleged secessionist plot.
Rights advocates say there was little evidence in the case, which also saw jail sentences for 13 other people by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. All of them are accused of a conspiracy to establish a separatist zone in Kratie province. |
| Angry protesters gathered before Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday to demand the release of two jailed housing rights activists, performing spiritual rituals to curse court officials in a sign of their growing desperation. Some protesters threw salt and chilies at the court building, calling on Buddha to help victims of land grabs and praying that court officials be "demolished." VOA Khmer's Heng Reaksmey and Say Mony report from Phnom Penh. |
The Boeung Kak villagers have been protesting a 133-acre development project in
northern Phnom Penh since 2008, when the evictions began.
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PHNOM PENH - Boeung Kak and Borei Keila villagers embroiled in longstanding land disputes with two private companies in Phnom Penh say the authorities are protecting business interests over the public, as thousands of families lose their homes under forced evictions.
This has turned the protesters and government officials into adversaries, leading to increased tensions, the residents say. |
| Amid tight security and crowds of protesters Tuesday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court opened a hearing against Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando, who is facing charges he tried to lead a secessionist movement against the government. Mam Sonando, 71, whose Beehive Radio is one of the few independent broadcast media outlets in the country, testified on his own behalf, in a sweeping case with nearly 100 witnesses. Riot police kept demonstrating supporters about 200 meters away from the court, as it began the highly charged hearing. |
| PURSAT Province - An ongoing ban on large fishing nets for
non-commercial fishing has made life difficult for many families on the
Tonle Sap lake. Residents in the floating villages here say they rely on fish to feed their families, but they are only allowed to use nets 50 meters in length or shorter. The ban, intended to mitigate overfishing of dwindling stocks in the Tonle Sap, is seasonal, but the ban has been extended from the end of July to the end of September. |
A tourist walks past photos of former prisoners displayed at Tuol Sleng genocide
museum, a former Khmer Rouge prison known as S-21, in Phnom Penh.
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PHNOM PENH — The identities of two Westerners whose images were found amid some 1,400 photographs from Tuol Sleng prison remain unconfirmed, researchers at the Documentation Center of Cambodia said.
Two researchers from the center showed the photographs to Kaing Kek Iev, the former head of Tuol Sleng better known as Duch, who is serving a life sentence for atrocity crimes at the UN-backed tribunal, but he was unable or unwilling to say who they were. |
A Japanese oil company, has been granted a rights by Cambodia Tuesday, May 4,
2010 ,to study a survey for possible oil onshore at the basin of Tonle Sap lake, file photo.
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BATTAMBANG Province - Despite a government cancellation of commercial fishing lot permission across the expansive Tonle Sap lake, fishing communities here say bribery of corrupt local officials have meant the illegal practice is actually increasing.
The ban was meant to decrease the rapid overfishing of the lake, a major source of food for much of the country, which has seen its stocks dwindle in recent years. |