Businesses Warned To Be Wary of Hold-Ups

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 May 2009

Phnom Penh authorities have deployed more police to prevent robberies in the capital’s businesses, but city leaders also say businesses will have to vigilant for their own security.

Robbers have begun targeting local businesses in recent months, including the stickup of an Internet café in the city two weeks ago.

Muggers continue to ply the streets, but police have been deployed to protect the security of businesses.

“The police came to my place to advise me to be more careful with suspicious clients,” said a manager of a restaurant, who asked not to be named, in Beoung Keng Kong II, where a daylight robbery took place recently.

“The commune authorities advised me to put up cameras in my shop for security,” said the owner of a beauty salon near the Deli Café, where Internet-surfing clients were robbed last month. “They said they would deal better with the robbery.”

“Authorities are being deployed on the streets and are advising people, especially shop or restaurant owners, to be more cautious,” said Uk Phan, Beoung Keng Kong II commune chief, himself a victim of the Deli Café robbery.

Chhay Srun, Deli Café’s manager, said that apart from the authority’s advice on tougher security he had not been updated on the investigation of the robbery.

Licadho rights investigator Am Sam Ath said robbers have changed their targets from motorcyclists on the streets to clients or customers in shops or restaurants.

“Before, most of the robbery cases occur on the streets, but now robbers just wait in restaurants, shops or garages and rob the clients,” he said.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chheoun said the authorities have enough mechanisms to provide security for the people.

“We have from municipal- to the local-level security units, so we have provided good security and order,” he said. “But, to provide perfect security, no country on Earth can guarantee that.”

IRI: Cambodia's top 3 problems are corruption, drugs, and crimes

IRI: Cambodia faced with 3 major problems

29 November 2007
By Ouk Sav Borey Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Based on opinion survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI) among people of voting age, Cambodia is faced with 3 major problems: (1) corruption, (2) drugs and (3) crimes. IRI director John Willis made this declaration during a press conference at noon on Thursday 29 November 2007.

He said that the results of the opinion survey collected from 2,000 eligible voters from 22 provinces and municipalities. The survey was conducted between 27 August and 31 September(?) 2007 by the IRI to learn about the level of understanding of democracy in Cambodia. He said that among those who were questioned, Cambodia is facing three major problems.

John Willis said: “Therefore, if we compare to the impact on daily living condition and the secondary impact in Cambodia, the No. 1 problem is corruption …”

He added that, based on the results of the opinion survey of eligible voters aged between 18 and 24-year-old, this group of voters said that the top problem is drug, followed by corruption and poverty and debt. For those older than 25-year-old, they mainly talk about corruption being the main problem in Cambodia, followed by crime, and the drug problem comes last, along with environmental problems, and land evictions.

Regarding this opinion surveys among eligible voters, (CPP MP) Cheam Yiep, said that all these problems are (dealt with) in the government’s rectangular strategy. Currently, Cambodia still does not have an anti-corruption law yet, but the government was able to curb down a number of corruption cases, Cheam Yiep claimed. Regarding the drug problems, the government is actively fighting against this issue also, Cheam Yiep added.

Cheam Yiep said: “Samdach Akkak Moha Sena Bat Dey Dek Cho Hun Sen, prime minister of the kingdom of Cambodia is paying attention on these problems.”

(SRP MP) Eng Chhay Eang said about this opinion survey: “There is a number of information which made these results credible, however, a number of other information is still unclear.”

Nov Sovathero, Funcinpec spokesman, said that the IRI report is not completely perfect, the government can accept only 50 to 65% of its results only. He said that countries under development will meet poverty, corruption, drugs, crimes and debts.

Nov Sovathero said: “And, we can consider this (IRI report) as an opinion, as a basic document which we can use to set our policy in the near future.”

John Willis said that, nevertheless, this opinion survey was conducted to learn about the IRI work and to learn about the level of knowledge of the population on democracy. IRI also wants to gather voters’ opinion on what they want and what they demand as far as reform is concerned in their country. It can also be used by political parties to set up their strategy for the upcoming election campaign – should they want to use this opinion survey.

The violent and troublesome short life of Seiha Srey

'I think about him every single day'

Mon, 11/05/2007
By Robert Lowell
Reporter-American Journal (Westbrook, Maine, USA)

GORHAM (Nov 5, 2007): Faith Joyal always wanted a peaceful childhood for her her two sons. In 1997, Joyal and her husband, Bob Myers, and sons Robert and Marc, moved to Gorham from their home in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Faith Joyal said one reason the family decided to move was to escape the dangers of Houston.

"Houston city streets were pretty violent," said Myers.

But the family did not find safety in Maine. Just six months after moving to Gorham, Robert, who had been a running back for his high school football team in Texas, died April 4, 1998, after being stabbed in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Portland.

“I think about him every single day,” said Faith Joyal, a educational technician at Narragansett School in Gorham. “We miss him all the time.”

The man who spent nearly two years in prison charged with murdering their son died Saturday night in a gunfight outside Howard Sports in Saco. According to police, Seiha Srey, 25, of Cape Elizabeth, exchanged at least 15 shots with Andy Luong, 22, of Biddeford. Srey's body was found the next morning in a wooded area near the sports complex.

“We’re not surprised. He chose that lifestyle,” said Faith Joyal.

Luong fled the scene and led police on a car chase from Buxton into Gorham, where spike mats halted the Mercury he was driving. An autopsy determined he died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in the mouth.

For Srey, the gunfight brought an end to a troubled life. He was well known to police and spent time in and out of jail.

Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Srey was notorious in Portland. “His criminal history is no secret,” he said.

After spending nearly two years in prison charged with stabbing Joyal, Srey was released and the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. One of the investigators on the case, Nance Monaghan, allowed Srey to come live with her at her home in Cape Elizabeth.

There Srey became the center of a controversy over whether he would be allowed to attend Cape Elizabeth High School. School officials were forced to allow him to attend when the charges against him were officially dropped, but then he attended classes only irregularly for about a month before leaving the school system, according to former school Superintendent Thomas Forcella.

It wasn't long before Srey again faced criminal charges. In 2001, he was charged with breaking into a Portland home on Halloween. Srey, a native of Cambodia, originally pleaded guilty to the charges, but later changed his plea when he learned he could face deportation for a guilty plea.

Srey spent about two years in jail after being convicted on those charges. He was released in 2003 and would have remained on probabtion until June 2008.

“It's amazing to us that Srey was out, period. He should have been in jail,” said Bob Myers.

Faith Joyal doesn't know whether Srey murdered her son, but if he didn't, she believes he knew who did.

Murdered in Portland

For Robert Joyal, the adjustment to Maine had not been easy. He was 18 and a senior in high school – a difficult time for any teenager to pick up and move.

It was made more difficult by the fact that he could not play football, because at that time, Gorham High School did not have a team. Joyal had been playing since he was in fourth grade. He was a running back and defensive end for his high school football team in Texas.

Myers said his stepson looked larger than his measured height – 5 feet 6 inches. “He was wide in the shoulders,” he said.

Bob Myers said his stepson had just rented an apartment on St. John Street in Portland, not far from where he died. Joyal never got to sleep in his apartment, as the night he was murdered would have been his first there.

Joyal also had just bought his first car, a Ford Bronco, that day. Myers said his stepson pulled out of their Gorham driveway about 5 p.m.

“I told him to take care of himself,” Myers recalled. “And off he went.”

That night, a Friday, Joyal and a girlfriend from Gorham, along with a friend from Buxton and his girlfriend, went to Metropolis, a drug-free club for teenagers on Forest Avenue.

The parents don't know exactly what happened at the club that night, but they believe trouble may have arisen over the girls. Joyal’s girlfriend urged the foursome to leave, and they went to Denny’s in his friend’s van. But when they arrived at around 1 a.m., Faith Joyal said, they were ambushed.

Joyal’s friend was punched and Joyal was attacked when he jumped from the van to help. Faith Joyal said someone pulled the shirt over her son’s head and he was stabbed three times.

In a story published in the April 8 American Journal, then- Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood described what police believed was the murder weapon. Chitwood said it was a knife with a 10-inch, double-edge blade. The story said there were more than 50 witnesses.

Robert Joyal’s funeral was held on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where his mother was a native. She said many kids from Gorham attended the funeral.

“They were very sweet to us afterward,” she said.

Faith Joyal believes her son was the victim of gang violence and that his murder may have been part of an initiation into a gang. Some of Robert Joyal's friends believed some gang members attended his funeral.

Marc Joyal-Myers was 11 when his older brother was murdered. He is now 21. Madeline Joyal-Myers, who is now 8 and attends the Village School, never met her older brother.

Faith Joyal said her nephew, Robert's best friend, just got married.

“Robert should have been there,” she said.

Based in Westbrook, Reporter-American Journal Robert Lowell can be reached at 207-854-2577 or by e-mail at rlowell@keepmecurrent.com.

Prince, swords and crime slash royal reputation

By Cheang Sokha and Vong Sokheng
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 11, June 1 - 14, 2007

Handcuffed, downcast, under police escort, Prince Norodom Charuchak arrived at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on May 30 - 31 to face interrogation about alleged participation in organized crime and gang violence.

Charuchak, the son of Prince Norodom Chakrapong and grandson of retired King Norodom Siahnouk, was arrested May 28 along with eight male suspects and a young woman, all aged 16 to 20, at a rented flat in 7 Makara district, Beung Pralet commune.

Police said the raid was sparked by a three-month string of related robberies and gang warfare in the Phnom Penh district, once infamous for its violent crime.

"We confiscated five illegal swords and two motorbikes," said Huy Song, deputy police chief of 7 Makara district. "They confessed that the swords were meant to be used for revenge on another group of gangsters."

Song, said the crack down was needed to restore public order and security after police received numerous complains about "this annoying group of gangsters."

According to Deputy Prosecutor Ung Bunchea, the suspects were held for two days at 7 Makara police station, before being questioned individually by the court. He told the Post that two suspects were released on May 31 and seven others were being further investigated. A conviction for armed robbery carries a six to 10 year prison sentence.

The highly publicized arrest has drawn charges of political motivation aimed at Chakrapong, now acting president of the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP). Ranariddh, Charuchak's uncle, is in Malaysia and faces an 18 months prison sentence for the illegal sale of his former political party's headquarters. Chakrapong, currently in Bangkok, organized a short-lived secession movement in 1993 and was implicated in a coup attempt in 1994. Chakrapong, who has six wives and 13 children,was allowed to flee the country in 1994.

Prince Sisowath Thomico, second deputy president of the NRP, said that Charuchak was not a member of any political party.

"I dare not conclude that there is political motivation, but Charuchak's father is a politician and based on the culture of communist, he was a threat against his father," Thomico said.

Nhim Yoeun, deputy chief of the 7 Makara penal office, agreed that Charuchak's arrest was not about politics. Yoeun alleged the Prince provided accommodation for gangsters.

On May 29, Yim Simony, 7 Makara district police chief told a group of reporters that Charuchak rented the flat in February for $180 per month. Police described the apartment as a hiding place used by gansters.

Wearing dark denim jeans and a black T- shirt on May 31, the portly prince sat quietly on the floor in the hall of the prosecutor building. A 22-year-old bachelor, Charuchak is called "Dy Dy" by his friends.

"The prince is very moral and never committed anything wrong," said a woman at the court who identified herself as a relative of the Prince. "He might know some of them but I believe he is not involved."

Cambodian media has reported ongoing incidents involving allegations of the children from elite families engaging in criminal acts, including shootings and murders.