Law and judiciary
Curfew imposed in Lao province after deadly violence
Lao authorities have imposed a curfew in north-central Xaysomboun Province after a spate of violence in which three government soldiers and three civilians were killed, police and other sources said 11 December.The authorities blamed the violence last month on bandits, but a source close to ...
Police mull defamation suit against asylum-seeking officer
Police on 11 December said they were considering suing a former officer investigating human trafficking for defamation over comments he made implicating senior officials in the trade. Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin arrived in Melbourne a few days ago and told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on 10 ...
Thai border shooting injures two loggers
Thai soldiers opened fire on a group of 17 illegal loggers on 10 December evening, wounding two, police said. The group had illegally crossed the border into Thailand in Oddar Meanchey province under cover of darkness when they encountered a Thai patrol, according to Brigadier General Men ...
Regional deal to tackle drugs
Senior officials from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on 10 December signed a joint statement on drug control co-operation, vowing to make the ASEAN bloc drug-free at the 15th Trilateral and Bilateral Ministerial Meeting of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos on Drug Control Co-operation. The joint statement was inked ...
New idea floated to allow NLD leader to assume presidency
A new idea has been presented that would allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to get around a constitutional provision that bars her from the presidency. The proposal appears to be gaining ground and has now received the backing of a former senior military officer serving ...
Laos National Assembly approves second amendment to constitution
National Assembly (NA) members on 8 December approved a second amendment to the constitution in response to changing needs in the current era of development. The constitution serves as the foundation for the enactment of the country’s laws and the changes aim to better manage state and ...
Myanmar fishermen give testimony in trafficking case
Fishermen who were enslaved and in some cases held captive for a decade aboard seafood trawlers in Indonesia are now taking part in a lawsuit against one of the accused companies. The 14 Myanmar fishermen were flown back to Indonesia to serve as witnesses in the ...
‘Ownerless’ illegal logs seized in Kachin and Sagaing
A thousand tonnes of timber bound for the Chinese border have been seized by police, with the help of local residents amid armed clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army. Investigators are now following up the seizure of the 2206 logs in Bhamaw/Bhamo township, ...
Villagers face court over ELC protest
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has ordered nine villagers to appear on 9 December to respond to allegations that they dismantled the office of a Malaysian rubber plantation company five months ago. The nine villagers and 300 protesters allegedly pried the wooden walls off of a building ...
Prison outreach day ‘stymied’
A prominent local rights group has been forced to abandon its annual International Human Rights Day (IHRD) events in Cambodia’s prisons for the first time in 20 years because of “prohibitive” conditions imposed by the government, it said on 6 December. In a statement, Licadho said ...