R’kiri bust ends with $5,000 fine for logging +Military cop investigated for alleged forest clearing

[geovalin]

Phak Seangly

Forestry officials arrested four men and confiscated two pickup trucks containing illegally logged luxury timber en route to Vietnam on Sunday in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district before releasing both the men and the timber after fining them thousands of dollars, officers and a rights group representative said yesterday.

Ten trucks, each loaded with about 20 cubic metres of luxury timber logged in Veun Sai district, were spotted in transit by authorities.

However, only two vehicles were stopped in Banlung district, said Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc.

“Each truck contained about two cubic metres [of luxury wood] and if the provincial police had joined the crackdown all 10 vehicles would have been captured instead of two,” Thy said.

Afterwards, however, the four men were released along with their vehicles by provincial forestry administration officials after agreeing to pay $5,000 as “punishment”, according to Phan Phoeun, provincial deputy chief of the administration.

Thy, from Adhoc, said that the release of the men violated Article 98 of Cambodia’s Law on Forestry.

If the suspects had been tried and found guilty, they would have faced up to five years in prison as well as fines of up to 100 million riel (about $25,000) each.

“Releases like this make forest crimes happen more and more,” Thy said, adding that police officers and timber smugglers frequently work in tandem during illegal smuggling operations.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/r%E2%80%99kiri-bust-ends-5000-fine-logging

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Tue, 22 April 2014

Chhay Channyda

A deputy district military police chief in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district is under scrutiny for allegedly clearing up to seven hectares of community forest land for personal gain, and district officials are investigating the case with the aim of presenting it at the provincial court at the end of April, a district official said yesterday.

Villagers in Kraya commune filed a complaint to Santuk district officials, the provincial hall and forestry authorities against deputy district military police chief Hor Dina for allegedly grabbing and clearing “six to seven” hectares of community forest, district governor Pich Sothea said.

“Forestry officials and I will summon him at the end of this month. Provincial forestry officials are investigating this case and are preparing [it] for court. They will find out how he got the land, how many hectares of land he cleared and to what extent it is within the forest law,” he said.

According to Sothea, Dina was known to have encroached upon the community forest since 2012 and had undertaken logging activities besides planting crops on the cleared forest land, but more evidence was needed to build a case.

“We asked the provincial authorities for a solution because we are worried [that others] will plan to clear forests because they see him as an example,” local resident Chan Ra, 45, said.

The Veal O’Kdey community forest was recognised at the provincial level in 2002 when residents asked for the preservation of the 4,500-hectare forest, but this is still awaiting approval from the Ministry of Interior. About 1,000 people depend on the community forest for their livelihoods.

Dina could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Only a month ago, rights group Adhoc organised a national campaign to raise pressure on authorities to settle land disputes according to the law.

On the day the campaign was launched, more than 100 complaints were filed by victims of land grabs across the country.