Cambodian authorities yesterday sentenced two Taiwanese to two years in prison and a NT$30,000 fine each for staging a kidnapping in the southern coastal city of Sihanoukville which they live streamed online.
Chen Neng-chuan (陳能釧), 31, and Lu Tsu-hsien (魯祖顯), 34, were convicted of inciting and causing social disorder a day after Cambodian police officials convened a news conference about their arrest.
Chen, who goes by the online name “Goodnight Chicken” (晚安小雞), and Lu, known by the handle “Anow” (阿鬧), must each pay 4 million riels (US$982), according to a court filing.
Photo: AFP / Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration
The court said the duo arrived in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Sunday intending to film videos with made-up, fake content with a focus on purported human trafficking, beatings and sexual assaults by online scam operators and the human organ harvesting business operating in the nation, the Cambodian China Times reported yesterday.
An investigation found that the duo live-streamed a clip showing Chen headed inside a compound allegedly near the KB Hotel, where he was seemingly beaten up by security guards.
They traveled to Sihanoukville’s Chinatown area the next day, where Chen acted scared, yelling for help while apparently running away from someone who was chasing him, the report said.
At Thursday’s news conference, both men confessed to making fake videos after police seized items and tools they used to make the content.
The duo knelt down, apologized and begged the authorities for forgiveness and to give them a second chance, promising to use their online influence to produce videos showing the “authentic side of Cambodia.”
Preah Sihanouk Governor Kuoch Chamroeun rejected their request, saying that the duo had made serious mistakes and must bear the legal responsibility according to Cambodian law, and that both would be prosecuted and must serve the full prison sentence before being deported.
“It is a very serious matter and it is not enough just to give a verbal reprimand to educate them. If we forgive them, then other people will come here to produce fabricated content and tarnish Cambodia’s image,” Chamroeun was quoted saying.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) yesterday said that Taiwan respects the investigation and prosecution process by Cambodian police and its justice system.
The nation’s representative office would provide assistance to ensure the men receive fair and reasonable treatment, he said.
The case has received extensive media coverage in Taiwan and many people went online to criticize the duo, saying they had brought shame and derision that had tainted the Taiwanese community of online streamers and digital content creators.
“It was a world-class embarrassment for Taiwan,” one wrote.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS