Students Forced to Pay Bribes

Cambodian students travel on boats to school through floodwaters in Kandal province, east of Phnom Penh, Oct. 3, 2011. (AFP)

Reports of bribery in Cambodian schools underscore the country's uphill battle against corruption.

2012-07-26

Radio Free Asia

Cambodian schoolchildren are being forced to pay bribes to pass high school admissions tests, a senior local educator said on Thursday while calling on the country’s Ministry of Education to have students retake their most recent exams.

“These tests must be taken again, as the results of the previous tests are not valid,” Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association president Rong Chhun told RFA in an interview.

Proctors and examiners for junior high school students are requiring payments of between U.S. $30 to U.S. $60 for a passing grade on high school entrance exams, Rong Chhun said, adding that “middlemen” are charging similar amounts for assurances the bribes will reach the right people.

“There is a price for middlemen between U.S. $30 to U.S. $50. I urge the Ministry of Education to work with local authorities to bring the suspects to justice,” Rong Chhun said.

No Clear Use Found for BHP ‘Social Fund’ [-It's all: Corruption! Corruption! Corruption!]

Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 27 May 2010

“We don’t know of a clear policy for granting concessions or licenses to those companies, and what we are facing now is the limited disclosure of related information.”

A year after it pulled out of Cambodia, the Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has found itself under a US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for allegations related to bribery in a foreign country.

Officials have not said which country the alleged corruption took place in, but the company has said it gave $2.5 million to the government here in exchange for mining exploration rights, making Cambodia among the likely countries under the scope of the investigation.

It is not uncommon for companies to pay bonuses for concessions here, but what happened to that money remains unknown, with government and company officials sending conflicting statements and no apparent accounting for the funds.

The mystery underscores worries from environmental and development advocates who say money from Cambodia’s natural resources will be lost or squandered to corruption if and when gold, oil and other minerals and resources are explored in full.

BHP came to Cambodia under a 100,000-hectare exploration license for gold in 2006. After three years of exploration in Mondolkiri province, the company withdrew from the country, claiming it had not found enough to continue its investment. The company told the UK-based watchdog Global Witness that it had paid a $1 million signature bonus and $1.5 million for a social fund in 2006.

Global Witness now says there is no sign of that money.

Prime Minister Hun Sen told a private sector conference in April the $2.5 million had been put into a social fund for a hydropower project in Pursat Province.

Contacted by VOA Khmer in April, Pursat Governor Khuy Sokha said he was unaware of any hydropower projects other than one venture paid for by a $300-million Chinese investment.

“There is only one hydropower [project] in Pursat, and it belongs to the Chinese company, and for which the construction process began in December 2009,” he said. “That is called Atay Hydropower.”

BHP did not respond to queries related to the social fund. Officials have said they are looking into the company’s practices abroad in the wake of the US investigation.

The company published information on its website indicating it provided money to a handful of non-governmental organizations here, though the website does no say how much money the company offered each group.

VOA Khmer was able to identify four institutions that received BHP money for development projects between 2007 and 2010: the Cambodian Mine Action Center, the Danish Red Cross, Health Net International and Village Focus International.

The total amount of money given to these organizations was a little more than $615,000, according to individual representatives of the organizations, nearly three times less than the company told Global Witness it had paid.

Where the other $885,000 was spent remains unclear. Likewise, there is no record of the $1 million signature bonus the company claims to have made.

The lack of accounting for such large sums of money is cause for concern for development groups and donor countries, who warn Cambodia could face a “resource curse” when millions of dollars in oil and other resources begin to flow.

George Boden, a researcher for Global Witness, said the current complications in managing revenue from the extractive industries does not bode well for future, more lucrative ventures.

So far, 33 countries have been granted exploration licenses here. Thirteen of them have begun exploration for oil and gas and minerals.

“We don’t know of a clear policy for granting concessions or licenses to those companies, and what we are facing now is the limited disclosure of related information,” Mam Sambath, president of Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency, told VOA Khmer. “The information regarding the [BHP] case has never been revealed in public, so our research on the issue will also be limited.”

The outcome of the SEC investigation could affect investment in Cambodia, Mam Sambath said, because potential investors may shy away from a country implicated in a corruption scandal.

And BHP is not the only company to have put money into a social fund. In 2006, Indonesia’s MedcoEnergi provided $4.5 million for a license to explore blocks of onshore and offshore oil. The company withdrew in 2010, without citing a reason.

Meanwhile, the French oil and gas company Total, which has a license to explore oil and gas in the overlapping area near Thailand, has said it paid a $20 million signature bonus and another $8 for a social development fund.

A Total official told VOA Khmer from France the company had already provided $6 million of the social fund, which is to be used for a healthcare program under the joint control of a local Total representative and the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority. The official declined to elaborate.

Michael McWalter, an adviser to the CNPA, said signature money is properly deposited into an official account to “become a part of the revenue for the government,” and social funds are carefully watched by companies.

All companies are required to pay signature bonuses based on potential investment, and some are required to provide for a social fund, based on negotiations with the government, but neither should be a concern, he said. “So what one has to do is to trust the government to do the job properly.”

PM slams critics over revenues

Thursday, 27 May 2010
Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

“It’s unfortunate that Prime Minister Hun Sen used the opening speech at such an important national conference promoting Cambodia’s mining sector as a stage to personally attack us, rather than focus on how his government is going to implement the critical reforms needed for transparency and accountability in the industry” - Global Witness

Hun Sen tells global community not to treat Cambodia ‘like a child’

PRIME Minister Hun Sen lashed out at critics of the government’s handling of extractive-resource revenues on Wednesday, branding them “thieves” and saying that tensions between Cambodia and international watchdog Global Witness stem from a “sexual scandal” involving the group’s staff.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day mining conference in the capital Wednesday, Hun Sen said criticisms from international organisations and foreign countries were misplaced because the government has not yet pocketed any funds from extractive industries.

“I don’t understand when they order the fish to be fried or grilled while the fish is still in the water,” he told an audience of business executives, diplomats and civil society representatives. “They have accused us of corruption in spending while we have not yet made any money.”

Ministry of Finance budget records show that the government has received more than US$28 million in signature bonuses and social fund payments from foreign companies investing in extractive industries since the beginning of 2009.

Hun Sen also said that all payments made to secure mining or oil and gas exploration rights were processed within “the framework of the state budget”, and scolded international critics for treating the government “like a child”.

“Do not teach us so much – it is boring. No one is the teacher of Cambodia,” he said.

Western governments dwelling on the issue of mining, gas and oil revenue transparency are guilty of hypocrisy, Hun Sen said, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the lucrative gem-mining operations that helped support the Khmer Rouge insurgency during the 1980s and 1990s.

“Until this hour no one has dared to criticise the diamonds in Pailin, which were dug for making war,” he said.

Revenues from gems and timber helped support the Western-backed anti-government resistance coalition, which included the Khmer Rouge.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), said Hun Sen’s claim that no money had been made from extractive industries was misleading.

“We have experience that Cambodia has got big fish, and that many fish are going into the ponds of corrupt officials,” he said, and alleged that US$2 billion has been lost to illegal logging since 1993.

He added that the government has yet to respond to questions from the SRP about millions of dollars in signature bonuses and social funds paid to the government by French oil firm Total and Australian mining company BHP Billiton.

The government has acknowledged receiving the payments, and critics have asserted that the funds have not been properly accounted for. “So far there is no reply regarding where the money has gone,” Yim Sovann said.

Last month, environmental watchdog Global Witness urged foreign donors to pressure the government to make such payments fully transparent.

“These figures represent only a fraction of the sum of the payments Global Witness is aware of. Overall, they raise serious questions,” campaigner George Boden said in an April 29 statement.

In his speech Wednesday, the premier launched a savage attack on the UK-based group, saying it was acting “like the boss of Cambodia”.

“They accuse the government in Phnom Penh of being thieves so I curse them as the chief thieves.... We have not yet made money, but they already accuse us of being thieves.”

Hun Sen also said that Global Witness workers had been barred from the country following a sex scandal involving a “female employee” of the organisation.

“I would like to say in public that the matter between Global Witness and the government of Cambodia started with the sexual scandal of Global Witness staff,” he said. “The matter started from that ... and now Global Witness is trying to take vengeance with Cambodia.” No other details of the scandal were provided.

Global Witness, which has been barred from the country since 2005, on Wednesday lamented the prime minister’s attempt to smear its reputation.

“It’s unfortunate that Prime Minister Hun Sen used the opening speech at such an important national conference promoting Cambodia’s mining sector as a stage to personally attack us, rather than focus on how his government is going to implement the critical reforms needed for transparency and accountability in the industry,” the group said in an emailed statement.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said Hun Sen had clearly used the landmark conference as a way to send a message to his critics.

“I think he’s trying to respond to critics in the best way he knows how, which is not to respond to the issues, but to lash out at the messenger,” he said.

He added that the broadside could also be related to next week’s Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF), when donors will measure the government’s progress on key reform indicators – including resource revenue transparency – and pledge development aid for the next 18 months.

“Maybe he’s trying to set the agenda, so they can’t raise some of these issues,” he said.

Cambodia in yet another bribe scandal: No surprise there with Hun Xen in power!!!

Hun Xen and the late Hy Lundok

Cambodia in bribe scandal: Australian MP

Thursday, 27 May 2010
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

CAMBODIA has been potentially implicated in an international corruption scandal involving an Australian company accused of procuring prostitutes for foreign officials and offering them bribes in order to secure contracts to print bank-notes, an Australian senator said Tuesday.

Securency – a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia, which has a 50 percent stake in the company – manufactures polymer bank notes that are used in nearly 30 countries.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is already investigating whether the company’s commissioning agents offered huge bribes to officials in Malaysia, Vietnam, Nigeria and Indonesia.

At a federal senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Senator Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens party, indicated that Cambodia could be another country where agents employed by Securency have engaged in bribery.

“In the matter of Securency, government officials have been flagged as being involved in Vietnam, in Indonesia, in Nigeria, potentially in Nepal and South Africa and Cambodia, and a number of other countries,” he said.

At a meeting of the Australian federal senate’s economic reference committee last October, Brown identified Melbourne lawyer Daryl Dealehr as Securency’s commissioning agent in Cambodia.

“Dealehr has ties to the families of Cambodia’s late and notorious national police chief Hok Lundy and Cambodia’s controversial Prime Minister, Hun Sen,” he said.

Dealehr, who could not be reached Wednesday, is the treasurer of the Cambodia Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (CAMEC), and the owner of the mining company Cambodian Resources Ltd.

Neav Chantana, vice governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, said Wednesday she was unaware of any corruption allegations against Securency, and that the bank had no dealings with the company.

AFP said in an emailed statement Tuesday that it would not be appropriate to comment on any potential expansion of its investigation to incorporate Cambodia, explaining it could “jeopardise the integrity of the investigation”.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NGUON SOVAN

There's no bribery in Cambodia ... only "social funds": Hanoi Spin Doctor Hun Xen

Cambodian leader says cash was for social fund

April 28, 2010
AFP
PHNOM PENH

THE Cambodian Prime Minister has denied that BHP Billiton paid a large bribe for an exploration contract in his country.

It was reported last week that the US Securities and Exchange Commission was probing BHP over a $US2.5 million ($A2.7 million) payment related to a project in Cambodia.

But Cambodian leader Hun Sen said the money was for a ''social fund'' established in an agreement between Australia and Cambodia, and was used to build a hydroelectric dam, schools and hospitals.

''These days, they have been saying BHP paid illegal money to Cambodia,'' Mr Hun Sen said.

''Let's see the contract - it was a social fund. It is written in the contract. It is not secret.''

BHP last week said it had evidence of possible corruption involving ''interaction'' with government officials, related to a minerals exploration project terminated last year.

It declined to reveal the location of the project, but said it was not in China, where four staff of rival miner Rio Tinto were jailed for bribery and commercial espionage last month.

BHP has said it paid $US2.5 million to a community in Cambodia's east and $US1 million to the government for bauxite exploration rights, according to reports.

BHP said it handed evidence to the US SEC and was conducting an internal investigation.

BHP dawdles to reveal SEC probe

April 22, 2010
Malcom Maiden
The Age (Australia)

BHP Billiton learned last August that its acquisition of exploration rights in Asia years earlier was the subject of a US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, and it found out because the SEC told it so.

BHP sat on that information until yesterday, when it used a routine quarterly announcement to reveal that it had checked out the matter, had found evidence pointing to ''interactions'' with government officials that may have breached anti-corruption laws, and had passed that information on to the authorities.

The questions raised by this are: why didn't BHP brief the markets last August; and why did it choose not to announce the probe separately yesterday.

And the short-term answers are: BHP didn't reveal the SEC investigation last August because its legal advice was that under its continuous disclosure obligations it did not need to; and it revealed the investigation yesterday inside another, regular announcement because it believed the matter did not warrant immediate, separate disclosure.

As unsatisfying as those answers might be, they suggest one thing: BHP at this stage is confident that it is not headed into the same kind of nightmare that Rio Tinto has been in for more a year since the detention, charging and conviction of four of its Shanghai-based executives for taking bribes and obtaining commercial secrets about China's steel industry. That confidence is going to be tested as the facts emerge.

BHP was precise and sparing with what it said yesterday in a single paragraph at the bottom of page three of its March-quarter exploration and development report.

It said that the SEC had requested information as part of an investigation into ''certain terminated minerals exploration projects'' and that as a result it had uncovered evidence of possible violations of anti-corruption laws involving ''interactions'' with government officials. The group said it was co-operating with the investigation while continuing its own examination, and said it could not predict where the affair was headed, or how long it would take it to get there.

Separately, a spokesman created distance from the Rio debacle, saying that the investigation did not relate to any activity in China, or the sale and marketing of BHP products.

It is believed that the SEC is looking mainly at the $US1 million acquisition of bauxite mineral rights in Cambodia in 2006 by a consortium led by BHP and Mitsubishi. The purchase of mineral rights in the Philippines may also be a focus.

A British anti-corruption advocacy group, Global Witness, reported in February last year that the $US1 million payment seemed not to have been booked by the Cambodian government, which recorded revenue of only $US443,866 from mining concessions that year.

BHP defended the deal at that time as being above board, and in an interview Global Witness director Gavin Hayman congratulated the mining group for being ''transparent'' and responding to inquiries.

Last August, however, BHP was contacted by the SEC and asked to use its own resources to inquire into the Cambodian deal. BHP took the position that the SEC's approach was not material, and its own investigation was complicated by the fact that the projects had already been shut down after being rated as non-goers commercially. But what it found raised enough questions about how BHP gained mineral rights for it to make renewed contact with the SEC.

Even then, however, BHP waited a short time before announcing the SEC probe, and its discovery of possible breaches of anti corruption laws. The group's position is that its

re-examination of the payments has raised questions about them, rather than revealed them to have been illegal, something that would have required immediate disclosure.

Despite BHP's apparent confidence, news of the probe comes at a challenging time for the mining group. It is in the midst of attempting to persuade competition regulators in Australia, Europe and the US to approve its proposed Pilbara iron ore merger with Rio, and it is also preparing for the imminent release of a tax report from Ken Henry that will almost certainly recommend a new tax on mining company super-profits.

The issues it potentially faces are similar to those Rio is dealing with in the wake of the Chinese court's finding that four of its employees obtained commercial secrets.

Regulatory inquiries are under way in the US, Australia and Britain to determine whether Rio should bear some responsibility for what the Chinese court says happened. If the SEC concludes that anti-corruption laws were breached as BHP and its partners acquired minerals rights, similar questions will be asked of BHP about whether the breaches were renegade acts, or sanctioned.

At the very least it looks as though the auditing trails that support BHP's comprehensive ban on preferential payments will need to be overhauled. The group's code of conduct expressly forbids improper payments, and defines them exhaustively. There are already enough doubts about what happened to suggest that its policing of those rules failed.

mmaiden@theage.com.au

BHP faces investigation into $2.7m Cambodia graft claim

April 22, 2010
Matt Chambers and Matthew Stevens
The Australian

BHP Billiton yesterday joined Rio Tinto in battling graft allegations, saying it had uncovered evidence of possible corruption by employees on an overseas project.

The Australian understands the conduct, now under investigation by the powerful Securities and Exchange Commission in the US, relates to a bauxite exploration project in Cambodia.

BHP has admitted making a $US2.5 million ($2.7m) payment to the community near the bauxite project, in the northeastern Cambodian province of Mondulkiri, near the Vietnamese border.

A Cambodian government minister described the payment as "tea money", a local term for unofficial payments to government officials.

BHP has rejected this, saying the money was put into a development fund investing in local social welfare programs. The company said it had paid $US1m in September 2006 to the Cambodia government for bauxite exploration rights.

BHP yesterday declined to reveal where the alleged corruption occurred, stressing only that it was not China. It would not comment on what the behaviour involved and whether employees had stood down or been fired but it said the activities involved mineral exploration, not marketing its products.

Last month, Rio sacked four workers, including Australian Stern Hu, after they were convicted of bribery and stealing commercial secrets related to deals to sell iron ore to Chinese steel mills. Rio has introduced sweeping changes to its Chinese operation and is conducting a review to avoid a repeat of the scandal.

Yesterday, BHP said the alleged corruption was uncovered after the SEC queried it during an investigation into mineral exploration projects.

"The company has disclosed to relevant authorities evidence it has uncovered regarding possible violations of applicable anti-corruption laws involving interactions with government officials," BHP said yesterday in a statement.

According to a report in The Cambodia Daily in July 2007, the nation's National Assembly was told BHP had paid $US2.5m to the government to secure exploration rights to a bauxite deposit in Mondulkiri with Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi.

The claim was made by the then water minister, who described the payment as "tea money".

The minister's comments informed a report into Cambodian corruption by the non-government organisation Global Witness. The report, Country for Sale, details the claims and BHP's rejection of them.

Global Witness wrote to BHP in October 2008 requesting details of any and all payments made to the Cambodian government.

BHP responded saying it had put $US2.5m into a development fund and it had paid $US1m in September 2006 to the government for bauxite exploration.

"BHP Billiton has never made a payment to a Cambodian government official or representative, and we reject any assertion that the payment under the minerals exploration agreement is, or amounts contributed to the Social Development Projects Fund are, `tea money'," the miner said.

While Global Witness did not draw any negative conclusions about the management of the development fund, it did identify an issue with the $US1m payment to government, although one outside the control of BHP.

Cambodian president of Appeals Court swears to deal with corruption

August 16, 2007

When You Bun Leng was sworn in as new President of the Appeals Court in Cambodia on Thursday, the local media reported that a corruption scandal knocked down the old one and will also victimize some of her colleagues.

"This new position will allow me to have a critical role in reforming the legal and justice system in the exercises of new laws as well as civil and penal procedure codes which were recently passed by the National Assembly," You Bun Leng said.

He made the remarks at his swearing-in ceremony presided by head of the Supreme Court Dith Monti and attended by Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana and former head of the Appeals Court Ly Vouch Leng.

"According to my experience as co-investigating judge at the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and judge of the Appeals Court, I have more ability to join the reform of the legal and justice system which is the endurable priority of the country," he added.

Meanwhile, Ang Vong Vathana said at the ceremony that reform of the legal and justice system is one of Cambodian government's priorities to govern this country and ensure rule of law and equity of justice.

Ly Vouch Leng was replaced by You Bun Leng according to a royal decree signed by King Norodom Sihamoni on Aug. 9 in response to requests from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Ang Vong Vattana, reported Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

The removal was made due to the court officials' intention to receive bribe in return for the release of hotel owner Te Pou Ly and manager Som Leng, who were sentenced in early 2006 respectively to five years and four years in jail on human trafficking charges, local media said on Sunday.

Ly Vouch Leng will receive a new position at Ministry of Justice, while other Appeals Court officials may face jail terms if further investigation find them guilty, according to Ang Vong Vathana.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Hun Sen also confirmed that the Appeals Court officials would be further investigated for they irregularly released the two prisoners of the human trafficking case at the Chhay Hour Hotel.

"The Appeals Court officials will face more investigation as two prisoners were sentenced into jail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court but was later released by them," Hun Sen told a seminar of legal affairs which was joined by diplomats and senior governmental officials.

Police from the Interior Ministry found that Chhon Pouch, 63 and Te Pou Ly's father, once pledged to bribe 120,000 U.S. dollars to the Appeals Court officials, with 30,000 U.S. dollars for Ly Vouch Leng, for the release of the two men.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has detained Chhon Pouch and charged him with bribery.

Source: Xinhua

Ly Vuoch Leng to face charges

Thursday, August 16, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Ly Vuoch Leng, president of the Appeals Court who was recently relieved from her position, could face charges for accepting a $30,000 bribe in exchange for the release of the boss of the Chhay Hour II hotel, should the court find him to be at fault as the Ministry of Interior police had considered in his case. The Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported that after the bribery case was revealed, numerous sources are following this case very closely because, according to the law, if there is somebody paying the bribe, then there must be someone accepting the bribe also, and if there were to be no bribery, Chhun Poch (father of the Chhay Hour II owner) would not be sent to jail for bribing Ly Vuoch Leng. If Ly Vuoch Leng is indeed charged, she could face 3 to 7 years of jail sentence for accepting briberies, based on Article 38 of the UNTAC-era criminal law.

Hun Sen: The Chhay Hour II Affair is not over yet

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Prime minister Hun Sen declared on Monday morning, during the occasion of the announcement for the new criminal code in Phnom Penh, that the Chhay Hour II case is not over yet following the revelation of bribery in exchange for the release of criminals by the Appeals Court. Hun Sen said that this affair is a very hot issue involving human trafficking therefore it should be considered a criminal case and those who are involved should be sent to jail. Hun Sen also said that the court must not rule like it did in the Chhay Hour II case. Hun Sen added that now some information are known and the Chhay Hour II affair is not over yet, it will move forward because how could the municipal court sentence the accused but the Appeals Court released the accused instead, Hun Sen said that the involvement behind this case is now revealed. According to an investigation on the Appeals Court, it was learnt that the release of Te Pao Ly, the owner of the Chhay Hour II hotel, was done because Chhun Poch, Te Pao Ly’s 63-year-old father, bribed the Appeals Court $30,000. Regarding the Long Chhin Resorts company which filled in the Kob Sorv Lake to build houses, Hun Sen said: “What so important about the Long Chhin case which filled in a huge areas of the lake, I will deal with him with a strong fist, now take the landfill out of the lake.”

Cambodian Appeals Court president removed in bribery scandal

Mon, 13 Aug 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - The president of the Cambodian Appeals Court has been removed from her position after an Interior Ministry investigation found her guilty of accepting bribes, local media reported Monday. Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea and English-language Cambodia Daily quoted Justice Minister Ang Vong Wattana as saying Ly Vuoch Leng had been removed from her position at the head of the court after a request by Prime Minister Hun Sen and himself was granted by King Norodom Sihamoni.

The newspapers quoted Wattana as saying her removal was in relation to the release of two men convicted by a lower court of human trafficking offenses after a raid on a Phnom Penh hotel, the Chai Hour 2, in late 2004.

The men were sentenced to five and four years in jail respectively in February 2006, but the sentences were overturned by the Appeals Court. They were re-arrested in February 2007 for the same offense, prompting an investigation into their prior release.

Leng was subsequently found to have asked for 30,000 dollars in bribes in exchange for their release after an Interior Ministry investigation, according to newspaper reports.

Ang Vong Wattana was unavailable for comment Monday.

Donors have consistently called for judicial reform and controls on endemic corruption in Cambodia, which Paris-based watchdog Transparency International rated as one of the world's more corrupt nations in a recent survey.

The removal of Leng, listed by Who's Who as a member of the royalist Funcinpec party, may reignite controversy over a number of other cases which have passed through the Appeals Court in recent years, according to lawyers.

The family of New Zealand national Graham Cleghorn, whose appeal against a 20-year sentence for rape was upheld by the Appeals Court at its ninth attempt to be heard last month despite his witnesses again failing to be called, said Monday they were reassessing their legal options in light of Leng's removal.

In 2006, an appeal against a 10-year sentence for child sex was upheld against Australian Clinton Rex Betterridge in absentia by the court, despite all complainants recanting at the hearing and claiming they had been offered incentives to make their allegations.

The Australian government released Betterridge from a Queensland jail the same day, saying it had reasonable doubt he could receive justice if extradited to Cambodia.

Ly Vuoch Leng removed from her position as President of the Appeals Court

Monday 13 August 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Ly Vuoch Leng was removed from her position as president of the Appeals Court through a decree signed by King Sihamoni on 09 August 2007. Replacing her is You Bun Leng, the current KR Tribunal co-investigating judge. Ang Vong Vathana, the minister of justice, told The Cambodia Daily that Ly Vuoch Leng was removed from her position because she was involved in corruption regarding human trafficking conducted at the Chhay Hour II hotel. With the removal of Ly Vuoch leng, the Kampuchea Thmei newspaper reported that an old man was also arrested by the police for bribing court officials in order to obtain the release of criminals. The report indicated that the man is directly involved with Ly Vuoch Leng. Chhun Poch was arrest by the police on 11 August morning and sent to the Phnom Penh municipal court for questioning about the bribing for the release of Te Por Ly, the owner of the Chhay Hour II hotel, and Sam Leng, the manager of the hotel, from their current temporary incarceration.
-----
KI-Media note: The Cambodia Daily reported also that Chhun Poch is Te Por Ly’s father. Chhun Poch allegedly gave $30,000 to the Appeals Court officials for the reslease of his son.

Cambodian Appeal Court's head removed for bribe scandal

August 12, 2007

President of the Cambodian Appeal Court has been removed in accordance with a royal decree issued on Thursday due to her intention to receive bribe, according to local media on Sunday.

King Norodom Sihamoni signed the decree to remove Ly Vouch Leng, according to requests from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vattana, said Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

The removal arose from her involvement in a bribe case, unofficial source told the newspaper.

Ly Vouch Leng had expected to get 30,000 U.S. dollars of the 120,000 U.S. dollars of bribe money pledged for the release of two men, who were sentenced by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over running pornographic business at Hotel Chhay Hour in Phnom Penh, the source said.

She managed to help release Te Pou Ly and Sam Leng, who were later arrested again over irregularity of the case.

Ly Vouch Leng was replaced by You Bun Leng, co-investigating judge of the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) , and she will get a new position at Ministry of Justice.

Meanwhile, police detained Chhon Pouch on Thursday, who had attempted to bribe the officials in deputy of Te Pou Ly and Sam Leng. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court will conduct more investigation of the case.

Source: Xinhua