Cambodia's anti-graft agency receives 728 complaints in 9 months

Cambodia's anti-graft agency receives 728 complaints in 9 months

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) had received 728 corruption-related complaints in the first nine months of this year, down 16 percent from the same period last year, the agency said in a statement on Sunday.

"From January to September 2014, the ACU had received a total of 728 complaints -- 370 of them were made in conditions of anonymity," said the statement posted on its website.

The statement was released after a closed-door meeting of the National Council for Anti-Corruption on Friday.

Cambodia is still riddled with bribery and corruption. According to Transparency International's 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, the country ranked 160 out of 177 countries.

The Cambodian government sees corruption as obstacles to economic development, rule of law, democracy, social stability, as well as the main cause of poverty.

The Southeast Asian nation passed the anti-corruption law and promulgated it in April 2010; then, in the same year, the ACU was established.

Since then, a number of corrupt officials in ministries, armed forces and judicial institutions have been brought to court for legal punishment.

Under the law, officials, if found guilty, will receive prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140928/cambodias-anti-graft-agency-receives-728-complaints-9-months