Brody wrote:I'm having trouble grasping what these guys are on about.

Are they flat out denying that they were in possession of child porn?

They must be feeling very confident to be openly protesting against such hideous charges.

Has the US Embassy forwarded their evidence to the relevant Cambodian judicial authorities for further investigation / processing? Surely Cambodian authorities will want to seriously address accusations of possession of underage pornography levied against their countrymen.

If true, these chaps should be more concerned with prison sentences than protesting for '12% sponsor payments'.

I can't see the US Embassy fabricating all this. There must be something to this. Either you were found to have child porn on your mobile device or not.

These guys should probably keep their soup-coolers shut for the time being.

This whole thing is odd.

Exactly my thoughts.

It doesn't appear they are denying what was alleged to be on their phones, but that their employer did not have the right to seize their phones and view it.

No mention of a local investigation in any press about it, which is not all that surprising, but troubling that the embassy would make the claim without referring the issue to authorities.

canucklhead wrote: ↑Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:23 am Like the dude holding up the Trump picture. Like he will intervene on their behalf. It's a bit like protesting your own stupidity!

and it is a bit like, like ...hmmm, like like

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:11 pm It could be the US State department handed over evidence to Cambodian authorities who, it appears, are dragging their heels and not doing anything, except to encourage the public protests to embarrass the Americans. That's my guess since neither nation gets along any more and there's been no fresh news on this in 4 months.

Well said. Sounds very plausible to me.

Just realized there's already a thread on this. Mods may want to move this one.



PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Almost three dozen security guards fired by the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia for allegedly sharing pornography on smartphones they used for work held a protest Tuesday demanding proper compensation from their former employer.

The 32 protesting guards said they had been sacked without a full explanation and not according to the law, and placards they held complained of injustice. One held a portrait of Prime Minister HE, who has been very critical of the United States as he burnishes his nationalist credentials ahead of a general election next month.

The protesters acknowledged that some pornographic images had been shared but argued that it had been on a private chat group they had set up on Facebook Messenger and not the official embassy chat group. Reports in Cambodia media had said some images featured people under the age of 18, but one placard declared the allegation unproven.

A spokesman for the embassy, David Josar, said it did not comment on internal personnel matters but took the problem of child pornography seriously and also respected the right to peaceful protest. An embassy official accepted a petition from the group.

The protesters claimed the phones at issue were their own property, not the embassy's. They also accused the embassy of violating their rights by searching their phones.

The guards said their terms of employment at the embassy ranged from five to 20 years. They said since they got fired in late March, they have filed several complaints with the embassy, but had not received a satisfactory response. Until the matter was fairly resolved, they said, they would continue to protest.

"We are here today because we think that our rights have been abused by the United States, which is a big country and regarded as the father of democracy in the world," said 38-year-old Im Ra.

Another protester, Nhim Sophorn, said he thought the U.S. Embassy may have wanted to reduce its staffing without paying compensation, so used the excuse about sharing pornographic images to fire personnel without the obligation for further payments.

"We need justice and hope that the U.S. Embassy will solve our problem fairly," he said.

http://www.tampabay.com/sacked-us-embas ... f1f381dfcc

Wasn't the crime committed on US soil and therefore the jurisdiction of US authorities? Ship them all back to the States and let the Feds deal with them.

Heng Heng Heng wrote:Wasn't the crime committed on US soil and therefore the jurisdiction of US authorities? Ship them all back to the States and let the Feds deal with them.

It’s pretty clear from recent events, the current US government / DOJ don’t give a fuck about kids from other countries.

The protesters acknowledged that some pornographic images had been shared but argued that it had been on a private chat group they had set up on Facebook Messenger and not the official embassy chat group.

Well guess what? Your employer found out. Welcome to the big leagues gentlemen. If you don't like it you can always go sign on with the goon squad patrolling Wat Phnom. I'm sure they don't give two fucks about what you have on your phone.

Also, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the time stamps on those 'private chats' were during working hours.

Another protester, Nhim Sophorn, said he thought the U.S. Embassy may have wanted to reduce its staffing without paying compensation, so used the excuse about sharing pornographic images to fire personnel without the obligation for further payments.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. The US Embassy has to tighten its belt and start saving a few Riel so what do they do? Fabricate charges of underage pornography, (so scurrilous and titillating a story as to most assuredly garner at the very least, minimal global news coverage) just so they can fire some security guards.

I don't even think 'that genius', CEO's most virulent, steadfast and frothing anti-US embodiment would swallow this line of preposterousness.

Brody wrote:

The protesters acknowledged that some pornographic images had been shared but argued that it had been on a private chat group they had set up on Facebook Messenger and not the official embassy chat group.

Well guess what? Your employer found out. Welcome to the big leagues gentlemen. If you don't like it you can always go sign on with the goon squad patrolling Wat Phnom. I'm sure they don't give two fucks about what you have on your phone.

Also, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the time stamps on those 'private chats' were.

It’s amazing what Khmers put on company issued phones. Some things cannot be unseen.