Chut Wutty was one of Asia’s leading environmental activists, tirelessly working to prevent illegal logging in Cambodia. But on 26th April, he was gunned down in mysterious circumstances in the protected Cardamom Forest. When David O’Shea unravels the story behind his death for Dateline, he finds allegations of corruption and cover-up, with government investigators giving
The April 26 shooting death of Wutty has drawn worldwide criticism. There are growing protests by villagers and warnings that Cambodia’s wilderness will soon vanish. Cambodia’s commune elections are a couple of weeks away. Hun Sen initiates his political ramvong – a popular slow circle dance with participants continuously moving around and around in a
That’s no recipe for long-term growth, the lesson being that political institutions like the bureaucracy and courts matter. Cambodia might be exceptional in the extent that it lacks institutions, but in the government’s current intent, there’s a whiff of the same attitude prevalent in other Asian capitals. Mr. Hun Sen wants to be likened to
Cambodia is also the only “high-risk” country in Southeast Asia. The report noted that it could only measure risk of money-laundering and terrorism financing since most of it occurs in “absolute secrecy”. Bridget Di Certo Thursday, 10 May 2012 Cambodia is ripe for money-laundering and terrorist financing activities due to rampant corruption, banking-sector secrecy and
