One Dead, Seven Injured Amid Violent Clashes in SL Garment Workers Strike (Video)

'November 12, 2013 - Earlier this morning, a violent clash between striking garment workers and armed forces, followed by two additional clashes between the growing number of armed forces and a crowd of citizens, resulted in the death of one bystander and at least seven injured in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. '

~http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/pressrelease.php?perm=327

Constant Cambodian Coppers

"The police were untrained, under-equipped, extortionists...the most corrupt group in Cambodia."

Psychological Operations Report: Cambodia

Pentagon, 1959


Today, of course, the Cambodian police are still untrained, under-equipped, extortionists...the most corrupt group in Cambodia.

Another Contemptible Cambodian Cop

Bov Srey Sras lost her unborn baby after an altercation with riot police on June 27.

She is suing an unnamed policeman who she alleges kicked her in the stomach, the the Daun Penh District governor, and Phnom Penh Municipal deputy police chief, Phoung Malay, for her tragic loss.

Phoung Malay is a nasty piece of work.

Reacting to news that he was to be sued he said:

"Is the victim old or young, and does she sue me to return her kid?"

"I want to tell her that if she wants to get back her kid, I am also young."

No further comment is required, Phoung Malay's words testify to just how vile he is.

Road Safety not the Real Concern of Cambodian Traffic Cops

Horn blaring a Phnom Penh-to-Ho Chi Minh bus burst through a red light at a major intersection yesterday. Cyclos, tuk-tuks, cyclists and cars were forced into evasive action.

The police at the scene didn't bat an eyelid; the sight of a big passenger-laden bus careering through one of the busiest streets didn't matter to them at all.

Rather, they were concentrating on their regular activity of fleecing a few dollars from a poor motorcyclist. And not even a potential tragedy was going to dissuade them from doing that.

Cambodia Cuts Scumbag Loose (7)

The rottenness that is the case of serial child rapist Alexander Trofimov continues.

Finally captured and readied for deportation back to his country-of-birth, Russia, to face still more charges of sexual abuse against children, the monster may yet slip free.

Cambodia Cuts Scumbag Loose (6)

Serial child rapist, Alexander Trofimov should have served all his 24-year sentence for sex offences against children. Instead he served four after being granted a King's Pardon.


The Russian scumbag should have been deported immediately to Russia where he faces charges of violent and cruel child- sex charges. Instead the Cambodian government allowed him to stay and quietly slip away to abuse others.


After outrage at his release and the failure to deport Trofimov the police began to search for him. He's a white foreigner with a penchant for young children and flashing the cash and his ugly mug has been plastered over newspapers for months, so it shouldn't have been two difficult to find him. Instead it took more than 2 months.


Where was he found? 


At the home of a 12-year-old girl. A girl who, it is alleged, he has also abused.


And during his Cambodian freedom just how many other kids did he abuse?


Kids that would have been safe if the scumbag had never been pardoned. Or, if he had been deported. Or, if the police had done their job.

A Cambodian disgrace.

http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2012/04/cambodia-cuts-scumbag-loose-5.html
http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2012/04/cambodia-cuts-scumbags-loose-4.html
http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2012/01/cambodia-cuts-scumbags-loose-3.html
http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2011/12/cambodia-cuts-scumbags-loose-2.html
http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2011/12/cambodia-cuts-loose-scumbags.html

Top Cambodian Copper Campaigns for CPP

It's illegal for Cambodian government officials and police and military officers to engage in political campaigning.

They still do of course and mostly for the the ruling CPP.

One person accused of breaking this election law is two-star police general Suon Phalla who, ironically, heads the Police Professionalism school at the Police of Cambodia. (one hopes he doesn't teach ethics there)

Suon who clearly doesn't understand either the law or the spirit of the law, whined that he doesn't campaign during the week but rather during his weekends, and he never uses his title while doing so.

 That could be so, although one suspects he's decked-out in full police uniform in an attempt to cajole people into voting for his CPP pals.

Daylight Robbery

We saw nothing...

Criminals in a Cambodian provincial town recently made off with an ATM containing 'tens of thousands of dollars.'

The machine weighs 200 kilos. It was heavily bolted down. And the theft of the machine took place in a busy street during broad daylight. Yet, the bank manager and staff saw nothing. The passing public saw nothing. The police? Nothing.

So there aren't any suspects. 'Tens of thousands of dollars' does, I guess buy a whole lot of silence.

Machetes or Movies: Madness

It's 10.00 o'clock in the morning and between 20 and 30 young men are brawling on Phnom Penh's busy Sothearos Boulevard. One unfortunate bloke is attacked by a machete-wielding youth. He 'underwent medical treatment at the medical clinic where medical staff stitched two wounds that had 'cut him to the bone,' reports The Phnom Penh Post.


The Post  continues: 'Following the fight , three officers returned to the Tonle Bassac commune's police station to watch a Hollywood movie starring Chuck Norris, an American martial artist.'

An all-in brawl and a machete attack, yet 3 Cambodian Mr. Plods can think of nothing better to do than return to base and watch a Chuck movie?

Traffic Cops Frequently Drunk On-Duty

Traffic police checkpoints to detect drunk drivers began in Phnom Penh in October. It seems that the first people that the police should check for sobriety are their fellow officers; despite frequent warnings by their chiefs not to drink on the job, drunk, on-duty traffic cops continue to be a major problem.

Even Prime Minister Hun Sen has appealed to traffic and military police: "On duty, please don't drink alcohol." His concern springs from one of his children being hit by a drunk driver speeding down the wrong side of the road. Traffic police- note the plural- sent to investigate, were too drunk to investigate properly.

Doesn't give one a lot of confidence does it? Although it does go along way to explaining why the dozy coppers on point duty do such a poor job of keeping peak-hour traffic flowing.

Cleaning Not Card Playing Call Cambodian Police

Six women who consistently preferred to play cards rather than clean their homes were recently arrested by police in Cambodia's Kandal province.

'They are Cambodian women and should not do like this,' said a police spokesman.

The arrested women were set free after receiving an 'education,' from the police.

Alleged Killers Walk Free

In 2009, two young girls were raped and brutually murdered in Pursat province, Cambodia. The girls were hung from a tree but not before one had her eyes gouged out and both her legs broken.

Horrible stuff, yet today two of the alleged assailants walked free with court officials claiming that they didn't have enough evidence. Perhaps they had a point. Afterall, the bodies were simply buried the day after they were found; no proper autopsy was carried out, and no fingerprints or DNA were collected. That, sadly, is common.

I don't know if the police don't do such things because they don't know how to, or they don't have the facilities. Or, if some of them don't really care enough to do the job properly, and would rather get back to the 'real' work of a policeman: scamming the locals.

Harsh? Maybe, but you hear too many stories to dismiss it out-of-hand.

Phnom Penh Police for Hire

What chance justice if the Cambodian police and armed forces literally work for wealthy politicans?

Recently a high-profile senator from the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) paid  uniformed policemen to help him clear protestors from land that had disputed ownership. And yesterday, in Kampong Speu, villagers protesting at having their homes destroyed by employees of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company were met head-on by soldiers from Battalion 313 of the Cambodian Armed Forces. Senator  Ly Yong Phat of the CPP owns the Sugar Company and he pays the soldiers to provide security for his interests.

So much for forces that can be relied on to provide even-handed justice, then. Rather, police and soldiers are sometimes no more than a mob of hired thugs doing the dirty work of those in power.

Phnom Penh Police Pummelling

Police position themselves at most busy street intersections in Phnom Penh, waiting to flag down errant motorcyclists without wing mirrors or helmets, or with oversized loads.


Heading down Street 63 and through three such policed-crossings last week on the back of a bike, I witnessed - whilst ducking at the same time - four to five policemen at each junction hurling stones at a young male and helmet-less motorcyclist who was recklessly racing through each intersection.

Miraculously, he wasn't toppled. His was a brand new motorbike without wing mirrors and he didn't have a helmet, so I presume that was the reason. Either that or it was his speeding. He got away but how many get stoned and actually hurt?

Certainly an interesting police tactic!

Lager Loving Law Enforcement

There is a lot of chanting coming from the house next door. It's Buddhist monks giving blessings and good wishes for the upcoming new year.

All the neighbours extended family are there and they have invited most of the street. It's quite a crowd. Once the monks have finished chanting, and then eating, it's time for everyone else to tuck in. They ask me along. Men are at the tables and the women and children on mats on the floor. The food is simple but good.

Sitting next to me is a policeman; a little fella, not more than 5 foot five and 60 kilos wringing wet.
It's just past ten in the morning and he has two walkie-talkies strapped to his belt. He is steadily working his way through a second beer.

"He likes beer," said one of his friends. "He drinks and drinks, but doesn't get drunk."

The policeman rips the tab of a third can and tops up my glass. I'm a reluctant mid-morning drinker and can see where this is going and so it's time to plan my escape. Soon the beer-drinking bobby rises and disappears and I make my apologies and leave.

As I look back over my shoulder the lager-loving law enforcement officer is returning to the table with two more cans of Anchor. Today, fighting crime is going to take a back seat for this copper, No one is surprised. No one minds.

Stop the Press: Honest Cop Discovered

 Residents of a Banteay Meanchey town are mourning the death of a local policeman. The policeman, who died after suffering a heart attack, was highly-popular among villagers. That was not, it would seem, because of his prowess at solving crime, nor for any acts of bravery. Rather, he was feted for his honesty; he never involved himself in corrupt practices, townfolk told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

Honesty is, of course, a good thing but this little story goes to show just how rotten the Cambodian system is: an honest policeman is seen as so rare that it is newsworthy.

Police Protection

Earlier this month 2 policemen, along with four friends, begin a mid-morning drinking session at a Phnom Penh Karaoke bar. Four hours later, it is alleged, one policeman held down a young hostess at the bar while the other raped her.

The 2 coppers were later arrested and detained. And one would expect and hope that, should they be found guilty, they would serve a very long time behind bars in one of Cambodia's less than delightful prisons.

Yet it seems that the victim is unlikely to see justice done- in fact these men probably won't even go to trial. They will face some sort of police disciplinary procedure, said Police Chief Men Heng Tith, but incredibly  he refused to confirm if the men would be formally charged and face a judge.

Never one's to get their priorities right the police did manage to ensure that the Karaoke bar closed it doors.

The 'P' Police

 Municipal Police chief Touch Muysor is the man charged with stemming Phnom Penh's drug trade. He has recently been suspended for, you guessed it, drug trafficking. Touch was allegedly found with US$100,000- a large Cambodian fortune- of pills in his possession.

Bizarrely the chief has only been suspended from his drug duties- he will continue with his 'normal' policing tasks while he awaits the outcome of an inquiry. That gives him an ear-to-the-ground and allows hime to follow/intefere/obstruct/run from the investigation as he sees fit.

Sitting on the Fence

KARAOKE BAR GIVES COPS THE CREEPS Reports the Phnom Penh Post

Police say they didn’t step in when bar patrons allegedly beat on a group of karaoke parlour employees in Kandal province Tuesday because no officer dared to intervene at the establishment known for fighting and shootouts. The three karaoke girls were injured when one client, angry after falling off a sofa, started hitting the girls. Police say they feared the girls would be threatened if they filed a complaint against the men. The police, from Takhmao town, said their policy of dealing with violence at this particular karaoke bar is to wait by the fence outside the parlour.

Well, of course the girls would feel threatened if they filed a complaint. They have no reason to believe that the police will do what police are supposed to do- provide protection, do they? Afterall they have just been beaten black 'n blue and all the coppers could do was sit on a fence.

Above: Cambodian Policemen- heading to a crime-scene or fleeing one?