RCAF General Fined for Defamation

A two-star Royal Cambodian Armed Forces general was found guilty in absentia by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday for defaming a superior officer’s girlfriend in relation to alleged land seizures in Siem Reap province earlier this year. The court fined Major General Keo Meas 5 million riel (about $1,250) along with a further 20 million riel (about $5,000) in compensation to the plaintiff. Judge Veng Huoth said Maj. Gen. Meas, chief of the 2nd Office at Army Command Headquarters at the Ministry of National Defense, was charged by the court’s prosecutor with “public defamation” under article 305 of the Penal Code.

“The court decided to convict him by fining him 5 million riel to put in the state’s budget,” he said. “The court orders him to pay 20 million riel in compensation to the plaintiff,” he said. Maj. Gen. Meas was sued by Chea Kongkea, the long-term girlfriend of four-star General Dom Hak, in late March.

He was quoted by local media website BT-News as saying that Gen. Hak gave Ms. Kongkea two hectares of land in Siem Reap province and she had claimed even more land by taking advantage of Gen. Hak’s position. “General Dom Hak gave his girlfriend two hectares of land in Siem Reap province. His girlfriend didn’t merely grab one piece of land in Siem Reap province, but captured every piece of unclaimed land near the borders,” he told BT-News.

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