John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:27 pm

RACHEL DENISE PRINS, 59 years old,

I guess she looks well for that age, but what the hell is she smiling about?

John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:27 pm

RACHEL DENISE PRINS, 59 years old,

I guess she looks well for that age, but what the hell is she smiling about?

prahocalypse now wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:36 pm

Australians detained by Cambodian police in Siem Reap bar
By James Massola
11 April 2018 — 11:47am

Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
Jakarta: An Australian woman has been detained by Cambodian police in the tourist city of Siem Reap and could face charges for possessing marijuana.

The Brisbane woman, Rachel Prins, is said to be the owner of the Soul Train Reggae Bar, which she runs with her Cambodian boyfriend.

Ms Prins was one of 11 people, including several other Australians, brought in for questioning by Cambodian police after being detained at the bar on Monday night.

An online expats' forum first named Ms Prins and posted some details of the police raid, while also suggesting it was linked to marijuana being freely available at the bar.

Early on Wednesday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing “assistance to several Australians detained in Cambodia, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter. Due to our privacy obligations, we are unable to release further information."

It later clarified that it was now providing consular assistance to only one Australian who was still being detained by Cambodian police.
Fairfax Media has learned that Ms Prins is likely to have to appear in court on drug possession charges and that the other people who had been detained have now been let go.

A report on the local SR Post News website published on Wednesday evening carried a photo of Ms Prins and four other suspects in front of a table apparently laden with drugs that had been seized.

The report listed dried marijuana, 25 marijuana joints, several bags and marijuana soaked in 10 bottles of wine as among the items seized and suggested the five would appear in court on Wednesday.

Ms Prins' family, including her daughter and grandson, live in Brisbane. The family declined to comment when contacted by Fairfax Media.

According to the expats' forum, between 20 and 30 police officers visited the bar for about three hours on Monday evening and questioned patrons before taking some of them away for further questioning.

In a discussion on the forum about the arrests, it is suggested that Ms Prins may have drawn attention to herself – and occurred the wrath of Cambodian authorities – by making comments reported in the Phnom Penh Post that were mildly critical of Cambodian Prime Minister HE.

"[Prime Minister] HE is shaking hands with the Chinese, saying ‘America, we don’t need you’, but businesses here need Westerners," the Post quoted her as saying.

Cambodia is ruled with an iron fist by the former military strongman, who has in the past 12 months arrested senior members of the main opposition parties ahead of July elections.

The Soul Train Reggae Bar’s Facebook page features photos of several people smoking what appears to be marijuana.
There are also multiple pictures on the bar's Facebook page of a woman who looks identical to Ms Prins but who is tagged under the name "Pixie Rose".

A separate video posted on Facebook by a Cambodian police officer appears to show police descending on the bar and conducting the raid on Monday evening.

It stated that police were on the scene to crack down on the use of addictive drugs and that the officials in attendance included the deputy police commissioner in charge of fighting crime in Siem Reap, the director of the provincial immigration office, the director of the anti-drug office and a deputy prosecutor.

In the video, the deputy police commissioner can be heard saying in Khmer “we don’t know who is who yet” but that the police had some evidence of drugs on site already.

Fairfax Media has tried to contact Ms Prins but has been unsuccessful.

Siem Reap is a popular destination for backpackers travelling to Cambodia, with a lively bar and restaurant scene. It also serves as the gateway to the historic temples at Angkor Wat.

In February, a Cambodian court kicked seven Westerners out of the country, weeks after they were accused of "singing and dancing pornographically" at a Siem Reap party.

Cambodia does not enforce the death penalty for illegal drug use but it still has strict drug laws, even for so-called soft drugs such as marijuana.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/austr ... 4z8ww.html

Brewer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:52 am

Expats say Australian woman on drug charges in Cambodia criticised HE

Rachel Prins had openly and publicly criticised prime minister and that could have been catalyst for her arrest, expats post on blog

An Australian woman detained by Cambodian police on allegations of drug possession may have angered the government by publicly criticising the prime minister, expats in the city of Siem Reap have said.

HE’s government is sensitive to public criticism with national elections in July already widely condemned as lacking credibility after he banned the main opposition party and jailed political opponents.

The Australian, Rachel Prins, was detained by Cambodian police after they raided her bar, the Soul Train Reggae Bar, in Siem Reap just before midnight on Monday.

The ancient city, home to the temples of Angkor Wat, is a popular tourist destination, and Prins’s bar is one of many on the long-established Little Pub Street.
Reports say five people have been charged with possession and use of illegal drugs.

The group, which included Prins’s Cambodian boyfriend, is alleged to have been in possession of seven packages of marijuana and 25 marijuana cigarettes.
But several posters on the Cambodia Expats Online blog – discussing the arrest under pseudonyms – said Prins’s recent overt and public criticism of the prime minister was ill-advised, and could have been the catalyst for her arrest.

Prins told the Phnom Penh Post two months ago that western tourists were being deterred from visiting by government-led heavy-handed police tactics over parties and pool crawls. “HE is shaking hands with the Chinese, saying ‘America, we don’t need you’, but businesses here need westerners,” the Post quoted her as saying.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is providing consular assistance to an Australian citizen detained in Cambodia. It declined to release more information on privacy grounds.

Hun, a former Khmer Rouge cadre, has ruled Cambodia for more than 30 years. He has been accused of large-scale corruption, enriching his family and cronies, as well as corruption of the criminal justice system, and sustained violence against and persecution of his political enemies.

The UN human rights council heard last month the Cambodian government used the country’s courts to jail political opponents and dissolve opposition parties. Dissidents have been murdered and opposition members of parliament publicly beaten or thrown out of parliament and replaced with members of Hun’s ruling People’s party and other parties.

HE is widely expected to win July’s national elections, with almost all opposition removed.
His visit to Australia last month for the Australia-Asean summit sparked demonstrations in Sydney, where protesters condemned him as a “thug” with “blood on his hands”.

Australia has had a complicated relationship with Cambodia, with a number of continuing tensions, but also significant interdependency.

An Australian filmmaker, James Ricketson, has been in jail in Phnom Penh for 10 months on charges of espionage after he flew a drone over an opposition party rally, shooting footage for a documentary. He denies the charges, which carry a potential jail term of up to 10 years.

And Australia has criticised the country’s deteriorating democracy. It was one of 45 countries to tell the UN human rights council: “Our previous optimism has been replaced by deep concern about the recent serious decline of civil and political rights in Cambodia. These backward steps include signs of escalating repression of the political opposition, civil society and media. “For the Cambodian government to retain its legitimacy, any elections must be free, fair and credible.”

However, Australia relies on Cambodia as a partner in its offshore processing policy for refugees.

Australia gave HE’s government an additional $40m in aid in exchange for agreeing to resettle refugees from Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru – at further Australian expense. But the scheme has been a costly failure: only three refugees have been resettled there. Others have gone to Cambodia and then left.