Fugitive General Arrested, Placed in Prey Sar

BY VAN ROEUN AND MATT BLOMBERG | APRIL 18, 2015
Major General Thong Sarath, who has been on the run since being charged with orchestrating the assassination of tycoon Ung Meng Chue in November, has been placed in Prey Sar prison after being apprehended Thursday evening, according to officials, who gave conflicting versions of his arrest.

Eng Sorphea, chief of the Phnom Penh municipal serious crimes police bureau, said that he received Maj. Gen. Sarath at about 9 a.m. on Friday and sent him to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court at about 1 p.m.

Major General Thong Sarath is led out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday after being questioned over the November murder of Ung Meng Chue. (Satoshi Takahashi)
Major General Thong Sarath is led out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday after being questioned over the November murder of Ung Meng Chue. (Satoshi Takahashi)

“Thong Sarath has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” Mr. Sorphea said following the court questioning. “He was arrested by the Ministry of Interior, which executed the court’s order and handed [him] over to the municipal police.”

Ly Sokleng, the investigating judge who questioned the general, could not be reached for comment. Kea Eav, one of Maj. Gen. Sarath’s lawyers, said he was outside Phnom Penh and had no further information.

The brutal shooting of Ung Meng Chue, who was chairman of the Shimmex Group, was executed outside a fruit store in central Phnom Penh and the investigation into his murder has been followed closely by news outlets and on social media.

On December 3, the day that Maj. Gen. Sarath was named as the chief suspect in the case, his parents called a press conference at their lavish Phnom Penh villa to proclaim his innocence and announced that they had sent him into hiding.

Within days, Maj. Gen. Sarath—also a highly successful businessman—was placed on Interpol’s list of most-wanted criminals.

On Friday morning, Lim Sokha Raksmey, acting head of Cambodia’s Interpol bureau, said that Vietnamese authorities had arrested the fugitive Defense Ministry official in Vietnam late Thursday night before handing him over to Cambodian authorities.

“He was arrested in Vietnam and given to the [Interior Ministry’s] internal security department,” Mr. So­kha Raksmey said, referring further questions to National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith, who said the arrest was made on Cambodian soil.

“[Maj. Gen. Sarath] was arrested in Svay Rieng [province] near the border with Vietnam,” Lieu­ten­ant General Chantharith said. “Svay Rieng provincial police made the arrest near Bavet City in collaboration with Cambodian National Police.”

Contacted for clarification, Mr. Sokha Raksmey said his initial statement was based on unverified information.

“I didn’t get any information from Interpol Vietnam or anyone else,” he said. “I just got [information] from the news, same as you.”

In Svay Rieng, authorities were equally clueless about where the arrest was made.

“I have just read fresh news about him and I don’t know anything about that,” deputy provincial police chief Hen Saban said of the arrest.

Bavet City governor Seng Seila said he, too, was not aware of Maj. Gen. Sarath having been apprehended in the city.

Mr. Sorphea, the municipal officer who sent the general to court Friday, said: “I heard that he was hiding in Vietnam.”

Maj. Gen. Sarath joins five of his bodyguards in prison. According to police, the bodyguards confessed to carrying out orders to murder Ung Meng Chue. However, some of the bodyguards later said that their admissions were extracted through force, including one who said his leg was broken by police.

The general’s parents, Thong Chamroeun and Keo Sary, are also in prison on charges of illegal possession of firearms following raids of the family’s Phnom Penh villas in December.

After initially denying bail to the couple, the municipal court abruptly reversed its decision in February, a decision that led to the sacking of court director Ang Mealak­tei after Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested he had accepted a multimillion-dollar bribe to release the pair.

Days after their release, Mr. Chamroeun and Ms. Sary were arrested again for breaking their bail conditions by allegedly attempting to flee the country in an ambulance headed for Vietnam.

roeun@cambodiadaily.com, blomberg@cambodiadaily.com

© 2015, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

Chinese nationals in Vietnam flee to Cambodia as anti-China riots turn fatal

Vietnamese protest against China near Formosa mill in Ha Tinh, Vietnam. A doctor told Reuters that more than 20 people died during the rioting on Wednesday night. Photograph: Str/EPA

Violent reaction in Vietnam to China's expansionist stance in disputed seas has turned deadly, with multiple reports of people being killed during rioting that began with attacks on foreign-owned factories.

Cambodia said hundreds of Chinese nationals had poured across the border from Vietnam to escape the riots.

"Yesterday more than 600 Chinese people from Vietnam crossed at Bavet international checkpoint into Cambodia," Kirt Chantharith, a police spokesman, told Reuters on Thursday. Bavet is on a highway stretching from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial centre, to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

On Thursday the death toll was unclear, although some news agencies reported at least 20 people had been killed.

A top Taiwanese diplomat said rioters had stormed a large Taiwanese steel mill in Vietnam, killing at least one Chinese worker and injuring 90 more. Huang Chih-peng said the violence took place late on Wednesday and early on Thursday at the Formosa steel mill in central Vietnam.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a Chinese contractor and a Vietnamese worker died in the violence. China's state-run People's Daily tweeted that 10 Chinese nationals went missing when protesters ransacked a Chinese factory.

A doctor at a hospital in the central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh told Reuters that five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese died during anti-China rioting on Wednesday night.

"There were about 100 people sent to the hospital last night. Many were Chinese. More are being sent to the hospital this morning," the doctor said.

Earlier this week mobs burned and looted scores of foreign-owned factories in southern Vietnam, believing they were Chinese-run when many were actually Taiwanese or South Korean. No deaths were reported in those initial attacks.

On Thursday, China's embassy in Vietnam urged the country's public security authorities to take "effective measures" to protect its nationals' personal safety and legal rights. The embassy made the remark in a statement published on its website, adding that China had launched an emergency mechanism to cope with the effects of anti-Chinese riots in its southern neighbour.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has been running high in Vietnam ever since Beijing deployed an oil rig into disputed waters in the South China Sea on 1 May. There have been encounters including ramming and exchanges of water cannon between Chinese vessels operating near the rig and boats from Vietnam, which wants China out of the area.

According to the English-language version of the Tuoi Tre newspaper, some 600 people have been arrested in Vietnam's southern provinces, where riots erupted on Tuesday amid reports of looting and attacks on police officers.

The government has since issued stark warnings to the Chinese that continued so-called aggression, which had to date been met with diplomacy, would probably turn ugly if it persisted.

With reports on Wednesday from the Vietnam coastguard that the Chinese had also sent two amphibious ships equipped with anti-air missiles to protect their oil rig, commander Major General Nguyen Quang Dam said it would "make no concession to China's wrongful acts" and stressed: "Their violent acts have posed serious threats to the lives of Vietnamese members of law enforcement."

An op-ed piece in the English-language daily Vietnam News was just as transparent with its words: "The Vietnamese people are angry. The nation is angry. We are telling the world that we are angry. We have every right to be angry."

"China should stop violating international law and respect Vietnam's sovereignty," it continued, adding that China's seeming aggression "smacks of a bull doing something wrong just because it can".

"Over thousands of years, we have shown that we never cease fighting aggressors," the op-ed added. "We are proud of our freedom-fighting forefathers and resistance is in our blood. We are a small country, but we are not weak. We will stand as one, united in the cause of protecting our motherland's integrity."

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, "urged Vietnam not to attempt to further complicate and aggravate the current maritime friction", the state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

"China's position on safeguarding its legitimate sovereign rights and interests is firm and clear and will not change," he told Indonesia's foreign affairs minister Marty Natalegawa in a phone conversation, the Global Times said.

The newspaper condemned the protests in an editorial, calling them "the most stunning attack [on] foreign businesses in East Asia in recent years".

"The turmoil is the outcome of Hanoi's years of anti-China propaganda," it said. "Without legitimate grounds and practical capability, Vietnam fabricates and hypes up its jurisdiction over the Xisha and Nansha islands [AKA the Paracel and Spratly islands]. This uncompromising stance, in an attempt to bring its people together, has actually cornered itself."

China's tourism administration has posted a note to its website urging Vietnam-bound tourists to "carefully consider" their plans.

Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs plans to print thousands of stickers saying "I am from Taiwan" in Vietnamese and English and distribute them to local Taiwanese business owners, to help them avoid the wrath of anti-China mobs. A ministry spokesperson confirmed the plan, but added that the stickers have not yet been distributed.

In 2012 Chinese authorities permitted large-scale anti-Japan protests amid rising tensions between the two countries over competing territorial claims in the East China Sea. Protesters in cities across the country vandalised Japanese shops and smashed Japanese-made cars before authorities ordered them to disperse.

China's propaganda authorities are censoring coverage of the protests, according to a leaked circular obtained by the online magazine China Digital Times. "Absolutely do not report on any news related to 'Chinese-funded enterprises in Vietnam being attacked by Vietnamese,'" it said. "Do not republish foreign coverage."
Reported by 

Air force to get 12 Chinese helicopters in 2013

2012-12-19 03:55:38

PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) - Cambodia will soon take delivery of 12 helicopters from China as part of a defense upgrade, sources said.

The sources said Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Pol Saroeun made the announcement at a meeting on Tuesday.

Air Force Commander General Sing Samnang said the Z-9 helicopters would be delivered between April and August.

Six of the helicopters will be used for transport, four will be deployed as attack helicopters and the other two used for VIP purposes, the general said.

The air force currently uses Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters made in Russia, he added.

ប៉ូលិស ឆែកឆេរ​ផ្ទះ​ជនជាតិ​ចិន

ប៉ូលិស ឆែកឆេរ​ផ្ទះ​ជនជាតិ​ចិន ក្នុង​រឿង​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់​ឆ្លងដែន តាម​អ៊ីនថឺណេត​

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(ថ្ងៃទី 21 ធ្នូ 2012, ម៉ោង 11:22:AM) | ដោយ: សុភាព

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ភ្នំពេញ: ក្រុមប៉ូលិសនាយកដ្ឋាន​ចារកម្ម របស់​អគ្គស្នងការដ្ឋាន​នគរបាលជាតិ នៃ​ក្រសួង​មហាផ្ទៃ សហការ​ជាមួយ​នឹង​ប៉ូលិស​មូល​ដ្ឋាន នៅ​ព្រឹក​ថ្ងៃទី​២១ ខែ​ធ្នូ ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ បាន​បើក​ប្រតិបត្តិការឆែកឆេរ​ផ្ទះស្នាក់នៅ​របស់​ជនជាតិ​ចិន ចំនួន ៦ គោលដៅ នៅក្នុង​ខេត្ត​កណ្តាល និង​រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ​។ ជន​ជាតិ​​ចិន​ទាំង​នោះជាប់ចោទ​ក្នុង​រឿង​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់​ឆ្លងដែន តាម​ប្រព័ន្ធ​អ៊ីនថឺណេត​។​

រហូត​ដល់​ម៉ោង ១១ ព្រឹក​នេះ ប្រតិបត្តិការ​មិន​ទាន់​បញ្ចប់​នៅឡើយ​ទេ​។ ប៉ុន្តែសេចក្តី​រាយការណ៍​ជំ​ហាន​ដំបូង បង្ហាញថា ប៉ូលិស​បាន​ឆែកឆេរ​លំនៅដ្ឋាន ដែល​ជា​កន្លែង​ស្នាក់​នៅ​របស់​ជនជាតិ​ចិន នៅ​បុរី​ព្រែក​ឯង ក្នុង​ខណ្ឌ​មានជ័យ នៅ​បុរី​កាំ​ង​ម៉េង ក្នុង​ខណ្ឌ​ដង្កោ និង​នៅ​ផ្ទះជួលម្តុំ​រង្វង់​ផ្សារ​ដើមថ្កូវ ចំនួន ២ កន្លែង​ ក្នុងខណ្ឌចំការមន ព្រមទាំងនៅខណ្ឌ​សែន​សុខ ក្នុងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ។​

​សូម​រម្លឹកថា កងកម្លាំង​ប៉ូលិសនាយកដ្ឋាន​ចារកម្ម នៃ​អគ្គស្នងការដ្ឋាន​នគរ​បាល​ជាតិ កាលពី​ព្រឹក​ថ្ងៃទី​៩ ខែវិច្ឆិកា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ បាន​ឆែកឆេរនិង​ឃាត់ខ្លួន​បុរស​ជនជាតិ​តៃវ៉ាន់ ១៧ នាក់ នៅផ្ទះ​វីឡា​លេខ​២៦៧៩ ក្នុង​ក្រុម​ទី​៤ ភូមិ​រោងចក្រ សង្កាត់​ភ្នំពេញ​ថ្មី ខណ្ឌ​សែន​សុខ រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ​។ ជនជាតិ​ចិន​ទាំង​នោះ ត្រូវបាន​ចោទប្រកាន់ក្នុង​រឿង​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់​ឆ្លងដែនដោយ​ប្រើ​ប្រព័ន្ធ​អ៊ី​ន​ថឺ​ណេ​ត​។​

​បុរស​ជនជាតិ​តៃវ៉ាន់ ១៦​នាក់ និង​ស្ត្រី​ជនជាតិ​ចិនដីគោក​ម្នាក់ ដែល​ជាប់​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ករណី​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់​ឆ្លងដែន  បាន​ត្រូវ​ចៅក្រម​ស៊ើបសួរ​សាលាដំបូង រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ បាន​សម្រេច​កាលពី​រសៀល​ថ្ងៃទី​១៤ ខែវិច្ឆិកា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ ឃុំខ្លួន​ដាក់ពន្ធនាគារ​ព្រៃ​ស ក្រោម​ការចោទប្រកាន់​ពី​បទកំហែង​យក​។​

​នៅ​ចំពោះមុខ​សមត្ថកិច្ច​កម្ពុជា ជនជាតិ​ចិន​ទាំង​នោះ បាន​សារភាព​ថា ពួកគេ​បាន​ធ្វើតាម​បញ្ជា​របស់​មេខ្លោង​ធំ​ម្នាក់នៅ​តៃវ៉ាន់ ដែល​បញ្ជា​ឱ្យ​ពួកគេ​រាវរក​លេខ​សម្ងាត់ នៅក្នុង​គណនី​ធនាគារអ្នក​មាន​ទ្រព្យសម្បត្តិនៅ​ចិនដីគោក ដើម្បី​ធ្វើការ​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់ នឹង​អាច​ឈាន​ដល់​ការប្រព្រឹត្តនៅក្នុង​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ផង​ដែរ ដោយ​ពួកគេ​ក្លែងបន្លំ​ធ្វើការ​ទំនាក់ទំនង​ជារ​បៀ​ប​លេង​ភាគហ៊ុន​។​

​ជា​ការកត់សម្គាល់ ក្នុង​ពេល​កន្លងមក សមត្ថកិច្ច​ប៉ូលិស​កម្ពុជា បាន​ចាប់ខ្លួន​ជនជាតិ​ចិន ជាច្រើន​លើក​មក​ហើយ ក្នុង​ករណី​ជំរិត​ទារប្រាក់​ឆ្លងដែនតាម​ប្រព័ន្ធ​អ៊ី​ន​ថឺ​ណេ​ត​។ ក្នុងនោះ​ជនជាតិ​ចិន ១៥​នាក់ ត្រូវ​សមត្ថកិច្ច​នគរបាល​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា ចាប់ខ្លួនកាលពី​ថ្ងៃ​៨ ខែ​សីហា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ នៅក្នុង​ផ្ទះសំណាក់​អប្សរា ស្ថិតនៅតាម​បណ្តោយ​ផ្លូវជាតិ​លេខ​៤ ក្រុង​ច្បារមន ខេត្ត​កំពង់ស្ពឺ​។​

​កាលពី​ថ្ងៃ​៩ ខែមិថុនា ឆ្នាំ​២០១១ សមត្ថកិច្ច​នគ​របាល​ជាតិ​កម្ពុជា ចាប់​បាន​ជនជាតិ​ចិន ១៦៧ នាក់ (​ស្រី ៤៩ នាក់​)​។ ដោយ​ក្នុង​នោះនៅ​ខេត្ត​ព្រះសីហនុ ចាប់បាន ៣៨ នាក់​, ខេត្ត​ស្វាយរៀង ចាប់បាន ៦១ នាក់ និង​រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ ចាប់បាន ៦៨ នាក់​។​

​ចំណែក​កាលពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១៨ ខែ​ឧសភា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ សមត្ថកិច្ច​នគរបាល​កម្ពុជា ចាប់​បាន​ជនជាតិ​ចិនចំនួន ៤៩ នាក់ នៅ​រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ​។​

​គួរ​ជម្រាប​ថា របាយការណ៍​ប៉ូលិស​កម្ពុជា បង្ហាញថា ជនជាតិ​ចិន​ប្រមាណ​ជាង ៥០០ នាក់ ត្រូវបាន​ចាប់ខ្លួន និង​បញ្ជូន​ចេញពី​កម្ពុជា ទៅកាន់​ប្រទេស​ចិន​វិញ ដោយសារ​ពួកគេ​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ករណី​ចាប់ជំរិត​ឆ្លង​ប្រទេស ដែល​មាន​ទឹកប្រាក់​ជាង ១០០ លាន​ដុល្លារ​អាមេរិក កាលពី​ឆ្នាំ​២០១០ ឆ្នាំ​២០១១ និង​ឆ្នាំ​២០១២៕​