Crimes in Shadows: Sihanoukville’s Grisly Reports, Pressure on Journalists

[geovalin]

Murders, kidnappings, corpses on the beach — news reports out of Sihanoukville paint a picture of violent and serious crime in the coastal city. But authorities are increasingly shutting down information about police work and pressuring journalists over negative stories, crime reporters say.

 

A sampling of local crime reports emerging from the city over the past two years include at least six reported cases of bodies found either in public locations or washed up along the beach; 19 homicides, assaults or firearms cases; 11 cases of extortion and detention; and some other serious crimes.

 

VOD reviewed 14 cases in 2020 and 26 cases in 2021, and more than half of these cases were clustered in Sihanoukville’s Buon commune. Many happened at common locations: along O’Tres and O’Chheuteal beaches; a borey called Pearl of Asia in Bei commune; a compound called “Ksach Meas,” or Golden Sand, in Buon commune; and the same commune’s notorious “Chinatown” complex.

 

read more https://vodenglish.news/crimes-in-shadows-sihanoukvilles-grisly-reports-pressure-on-journalists/