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Border Dispute: Rainsy trial to go ahead next month
Monday, 12 July 2010 15:03 Vong Sokheng
Border Dispute
OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy will be tried at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on August 6 on charges of falsifying public documents and spreading disinformation, court officials said yesterday. Deputy judge Ker Sakhan said the trial would be conducted in absentia if the Sam Rainsy Party president, currently in self-exile abroad, did not attend. In January, Svay Rieng provincial court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in jail for his involvement in an October 2009 incident in which he joined villagers in uprooting six wooden border posts. An appeal hearing in that case is scheduled for August 9. The new charges refer to maps and documents published by Sam Rainsy after the Svay Rieng verdict, alleging widespread Vietnamese encroachments in Cambodian territory. If convicted on both charges, he faces up to 18 years in prison. Sam Rainsy’s lawyer, Choung Choungy, said he could not predict the result of the trial, but that he had “already prepared enough evidence” to defend Sam Rainsy. SRP lawmaker Chea Poch said that if the court is independent it will acquit the SRP leader. VONG SOKHENG
Thai border talks: Joint panel to discuss ’10 agenda
Monday, 12 July 2010 15:02 Cheang Sokha
Thai border talks
Members of the Cambodia-Thailand General Border Commission are to meet this week in Thailand to devise an agenda for next month’s annual conference, Ministry of Defence spokesman Chhum Socheat said yesterday. Chhum Socheat said the Cambodian delegation would be led by Neang Phat, a secretary of state at the ministry. Whereas the bilateral Joint Border Commission covers demarcation issues, the General Border Commission deals with matters such as combating trafficking of workers and drugs, and promoting trade and tourism. Chhum Socheat said this year’s conference would focus primarily on “maintaining security” and avoiding armed conflict. The three-day meeting this week is to begin Wednesday, though Chhum Socheat could not provide specific dates for next month’s conference. “The formal conference is set for next month, but it depends on Thailand because they have still not resolved their internal matter,” Chhum Socheat said, in an apparent reference to the fallout from large-scale Red Shirt protests that were broken up in May. Neang Phat could not be reached for comment.
Bank of India birthday
Monday, 12 July 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan
THE Bank of India will mark its one-year anniversary in Cambodia on Tuesday, Chief Executive Ramesh Chandra Baliarsingh said yesterday. The branch, which opened in Phnom Penh on July 13, 2009, has seen lending grow 25.54 percent in the second quarter. "We are committed to building a stronger presence in Cambodia’s banking sector in the future,” he said.
NOCC to protect identity
Monday, 12 July 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath
VATH Chamroeun, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), flew yesterday to the Oman’s capital, Muscat, to attend a seminar on Olympic Solidarity autonomy. The four-day seminar starting today is organised by Olympic Solidarity, a branch of the International Olympic Committee, and is designed to strengthen the Olympic Movement and propagate its free spirit in the face of changing circumstances and renewed challenges. The delegates are also expected to get an overview of Muscat’s preparations for the World Beach Games later this year. The NOCC official also revealed he is scheduled to meet experts from the IOC’s legal cell to discuss “matters pertaining to the use of the Olympic Movement and its logo for commercial purposes believed to be so widespread in Cambodia.” The Olympic Charter demands that prior permission be sought from the IOC to brand products as Olympic or to use the Olympic logo. Recently, the NOCC slammed a Phnom Penh-based drinking-water plant for branding its product as “Olympic.” An unofficial survey last month estimated that several commercial establishments have been marketing so called “Olympic” brands without official sanction. “Once we know what the legal status is from the IOC on this branding issue, we can take it up on a case by case basis here in Cambodia,” declared Vath Chamroeun. “Right now we can only caution them; we cannot take any action.”
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