Council of Ministers authorises courts to allow asset freezing of forestry criminals
THE Council of Ministers has authorised the courts to allow the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes to freeze the assets of anyone involved in forestry crimes.
A letter signed by Council of Ministers secretar y of state Hing Thoraksy, which was obtained by The Post on Sunday said t hat af ter rev iew ing a report on recent crackdow ns, t he government had introduced additiona l measures to combat forestr y crimes.
“Freeze the property of those involved in forestry crimes, on top of other penalties and fines, and allow for the collection of evidence to be kept in a designated place and be available to the courts,” the letter said.
It also laid out other measures, such as the revocation of forestry permits, and required ministries and institutions to oversee the disqualification of companies that do not comply with the law or respect contracts.
Committee spokesman Eng Hy said on Sunday that the decision to seize or freeze property rests with the municipal and provincial courts.
The ongoing case involving well-known timber trader and oknha (tycoon) Kong Kroeng, he said, had been handed to the Kratie Provincial Court to decide whether to order his assets frozen.
“We are the national committee. We have no right to decide. It is up to the courts to make any decision,” he said.
Kratie Provincial Court spokesman Tiv Tuththen said he had not received any further information and the judge had not yet been made aware of the issue.
“We have not had any information yet but we plan to inspect Kong Kreung’s property soon, once my superiors make a decision,” he said.
Kratie provincial Military Police commander San Bunthan said a report on Kreung’s case had already been sent to the senior leadership.
“We are following legal procedure because some tasks are beyond our remit. The process is being continued by the court. More than this, I don’t know,” he said.
At a meeting of the central committee of the Cambodian People’s Party on Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for the continued enforcement of the “fifth approach” introduced in his sixth mandate.
Last year, Hun Sen added “surger y” – the removal of dishonest officia ls – as t he fifth approach to better governance through sweeping reforms.
The prime minister warned t hat corrupt government and Militar y Police of ficia ls who used t heir positions to ta ke part in corruption, seize state la nd or clea r forest to use state land as t heir personal propert y would be discharged and have t heir assets frozen.
On Thursday, Hun Sen gave further instructions to the Anti-Corruption Unit about cracking down on forestry crimes, saying perpetrators’ assets should be frozen or seized.
Pen Bonna, the senior land and natural resources officer for rights group Adhoc, said this was under Article 94 of the Forestry Law which says anyone harming the forest ecosystem shall be liable for payment to restore original condition.
“The assets of those committing or involved i n forestr y crimes must be seized. If t here was no systemic corruption, t he forest would not have been destroyed li ke t his. This action should have been introduced 15 years ago,” he said.
Hun Sen had on Tuesday a lso sent a letter to Sao Sok ha, the chairman of the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes, asking him to car ve t he names of criminals who destroy t he forest on a stone.
“To publicise their deeds and educate people about it to its the attention being paid to protecting the forest by the government – and about our preventive measures and crackdowns on forest crimes – I request that the names of criminals be carved on a stone to be placed where trucks have been destroyed,” his letter read.
More than 20 people have recently been summoned for questioning over forestry crimes, include Vietnamese and Chinese nationals, Forestry Administration officials and several oknhas – including Srun Mengleang, Top Vida and Vun Bun Thay. Oknhas Soeng Sam Ol and Kong Kreung are currently in pre-trial detention.