Cambodia Monthly News Summary – February 2010
Published on March 1, 2010

Human Rights Defenders Acquitted of Disinformation
23 February 2010. NGO workers (from The Cambodian Center for Human Rights) were acquitted on the charge of disinformation along with Radio Free Asia journalist Sok Serei and community representatives Ny San and Seb Sein. However Ny San was found guilty of destruction of property and was sentenced to five months in prison (he had already served four and a half months in pre trial detention) and a payment of compensation of $250 to the complainant. The group had been involved in a dispute with local mosque leaders who the community alleged to have mismanaged funds.

Cambodian Government Formalizes Private Sector Patronage System of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)
26 February 2010. A government document published by the Cambodia Daily revealed that the government had formalized a long standing agreement between the RCAF and the private sector; whereby private sector donations to the RCAF, would provide official partnerships between private companies and RCAF military units. Civil society raised concerns over this system which appears to encourage the use of military units to intervene on behalf of private interests.