MAY 7: Meas Chhem, 22, was sent to a hospital for medical treatment after

a group of ten assailants attacked him with a knife during a nighttime dancing argument

in Sandan village, Kampong Thom province. A witness said the assailants knocked Chhem

down and one of them stabbed him in the stomach, then ran away. However, police arrested

one of the perpetrators, who identified the others.

MAY 7: A 19-year-old boy, Koy Leangho, was arrested for rape in Kampong Loung

village, Takeo province. Police said Leangho raped a 16-year-old girl when she went

to use the toilet behind her house. The girl told police that Leangho pointed a knife

at her before the rape, but Leangho denied this, saying they had been in love for

more than one year. He said they had sex once before.

MAY 8: Police arrested five people trying to escape after committing a robbery

at midnight in Doeum Sleng village, Phnom Penh. Police said the suspects, Seang Me,

24, Chhurn Pros, 27, Chan Bunthoeun, 25, Sek Vuotha, 22, and Proeun Sophat, 25, stopped

a moto-taxi driver, Khun Vorak, 24, and demanded his key. Sophat said they tried

to run away after he shouted for help.

MAY 9: Than Sophors, 21, was sent to Calmette Hospital for treatment after

being knifed in a robbery at midnight while returning home from a restaurant where

he worked as a singer in Prek Leap commune, Phnom Penh. Sophors told police he was

stabbed once in the stomach by Sok Ti, 21, who was arrested on the scene. Sophors

said he just made friends with Ti while eating sweets before the robbery.

MAY 9: French national, Charrieke My, 35, died instantly from a head injury

during an accident while driving a motorcycle at 8:30 p.m. in downtown Sihanoukville.

A witness told police that the man was driving his bike very fast and crashed into

a road divider that had just been built.

MAY 9: A crowd of people arrested one of two men trying to steal a motorbike

at 11:20 a.m. in Chatomuk commune, Phnom Penh. Hang Hibunara, 23, told police that

Som Rith, 40, a motorbike taxi driver and his accomplice cheated him for his motorbike.

Hibunara said they asked to buy his bike, but one of them tested his bike and rode

away. The other man was detained and later handed over to police.

MAY 10: Phnom Penh municipal Court sentenced a Vietnamese national, Mai Thithi,

36, to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking. The judge, Sao Meach said Thithi

was arrested in early December last year after police found 2,154 pills of yama at

her guesthouse in Me Phloeung precinct, Chamcar Morn district, Phnom Penh. Thithi

said at the hearing that she knew nothing of the drugs. She said a neighbor identified

as Lang telephoned her and asked if a friend could stay in Thithi's room. Thithi

agreed but said the friend later left some materials in the room, asking Thithi to

take care of her things. MAY 10: Eang Dara, 23, was arrested for a robbery he committed

the previous week in Phnom Penh. Police said Dara and his four accomplices robbed

a jewelry vendor at O'Russei market and they tried to escape with a jewelry bag containing

more than 100 damleung of gold. Dara was later found hiding with his wife in a cave

in Tar Kriam commune, Battambang province.

MAY 11: Soung San, 52, a poor farmer, was shot dead while sitting and talking

with his neighbors at 7:30 p.m. in Khnong Ai village, Kampong Speu province. Police

said San was shot once in the stomach with an AK-47 by an unidentified man who escaped

on foot. Police suspect revenge was the motivation of the killing because some people

were not happy with San, as he was a sorcerer.

MAY 11: Phnom Penh municipal court prosecutor Ouk Savuth charged three officials

from the Federal Union of Solidarity with receiving bribes and damaging property

at the Maurea Garment Corp in Svay Pak commune, Phnom Penh. A court official said

that the cases of Nay Sokveasna, Ly Sophy, and Sun Channara, had been passed to investigation

judge Thoang Ol. The official said three representatives extorted the factory of

$1,000 ransom to stop a demonstration. They have been remanded at Prey Sar prison.

MAY 12: Police arrested four robbers who stole a motorbike in Teuk Vil commune,

Kampong Thom province. Police said the suspects were Sar Thea, 24, Hin Heap, 18,

Kim Ron, 32, and Prak Pros, 21. A moto-taxi driver said the robbers offered a fee

of 20,000 riel to drive them somewhere, but then stabbed him in the neck with a knife

and attempted to flee.

MAY 12: Nop Phoeun, 24, a recycling vendor, was found dead at 11:30 a.m. in

Phnom Tamao village, Takeo province. A villager told police that he suspected two

people riding with Phoeun's were likely to have been involved in his murder. Police

said Phoeun was stabbed in the neck and his throat had been cut with a knife. The

killers escaped leaving Phoeun's motorbike at the scene.

MAY 12: A farmer, Chap Sin, 62, had five buffaloes stolen at midnight in Paun

Khang Koeut village, Prey Veng province. The man told police that two gunmen entered

his house and aimed at him before escaping with his buffaloes.

MAY 13: The body of a 20-year-old unidentified man was found floating in a

river in Prek Tasek village, Russei Keo district, Phnom Penh. Police said the man

was murdered and his body dumped in the river up to a week earlier. Police said the

body was axed once in the forehead.

MAY 13: Chey Lun, 23, was sent to Takeo provincial hospital for medical treatment

after being axed during a nighttime dancing argument at a neighbor's wedding party

in Tasom village. Police said Lun was struck six times by four people who escaped

after the assault. Police said the man probably died quickly because he had massive

head injuries.

MAY 14: Seang Chantha, an 18-year old monk, was arrested for rape in Trapaing

Chhouk village, Kampong Speu province. Chantha confessed to police that he raped

a 10-year-old girl while she was playing in the pagoda where he lived.

MAY 14: Chea Bunhing, 25, was arrested after being caught with two kilograms

of narcotics in a plastic bag while waiting for a buyer in Prek Leap commune, Russei

Keo district, Phnom Penh. Bunhing, a policeman, told police that he had received

a telephone call from a man named Bo, who he claimed to have never met, asking Bunhing

to deliver the drugs to an unidentified man. Bunhing said Bo had promised to pay

him $450.

MAY 15: Phum Thol, 33, was shot dead in a robbery at 8:30 p.m. in Sdok Chhouk

village, Kandal province. Seang Touch, 26, told police that a group of five gunmen

entered her house and shot her husband three times with an AK-47. The men then tied

up of her arms while they stole a motorbike and $160 in cash.

MAY 16: Keo Vichit, 33, was arrested for a theft he committed a week earlier

in Thmey village, Kandal province. Police said the arrest came after a motorbike

taxi driver, Oeun Uy, 23, complained that Vichit asked him for a test ride of his

bike, but drove away to Boeung Sokrom village, Banteay Meanchey province. Vichit

told police that he sold the bike for $300 to unidentified buyer.

MAY 16: Police arrested a 19-year-old man after he tried to steal money from

a Khmer noodle seller at 10:30 p.m. in Srah Chak commune, Phnom Penh. The woman told

police the man had bought a bowl of noodles for 500 riel, but after he picked up

her knife and stabbed her once in the arm, before attempting to steal her money.

He was caught after the seller shouted for help.

MAY 17: Two policemen, Kang Sam An and Long Sokunthy were shot and severely

wounded while trying to stop a gunman attempting to rob a villager at 10:30 a.m.

in Prek Thnoat commune, Kampot province. Provincial criminal police office chief

Kong Sokhan said the robber was fatally gunned down after he shot Sam An in the underarm,

then he shot Sokunthy in the stomach with a K-54 handgun. Sam An and Sokunthy were

sent to a provincial hospital for surgery but were later transferred to a hospital

in Phnom Penh.

MAY 17: Police are looking for a woman, Saing Kim, 45, who escaped with her

12-year-old daughter after killing her husband, Em Yong, 48, in Dang Rong village,

Pursat province. Police said Kim was probably angry as she learned that her husband,

commune chief of Koh Chum, had been extra-loved by another woman in Battambang province.

- Translated from Khmer newspapers Koh Santepheap and Rasmei Kampuchea by Aun

Pheap