Skip to main content

US Sacks 32 Embassy Workers In Cambodia 'For Sharing Pornography '.




The United States embassy in Cambodia has fired 32 people after they were allegedly caught sharing pornographic material in a non-official chat group, several sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Four sources told Reuters that pornographic videos and photographs, including some featuring people under the age of 18, were shared in a Facebook Messenger chat group.

Some of the images were seen by the wife of an embassy worker who reported the incident to an official at the embassy. The matter was then forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the sources said.

“They had their identification cards taken and some of their phones checked,” a former U.S. embassy staff member told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

He said the 32 embassy workers included Cambodians and Cambodian-Americans. Many were guards and some were clerical staff. There were no diplomats among them, they said.

Two of the sources, both of whom work at the embassy, confirmed the dismissals.

The dismissals come at a time of tension between Cambodia and the United States over U.S. criticism of a crackdown on dissent by long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, and his anger over what he says have been U.S. efforts to undermine his rule.

The United States has denied interfering in Cambodian politics. The Cambodian government has not commented on the dismissals.

Cambodia, still emerging from decades of conflict and poverty, has been notorious for child prostitution, and several foreigners have been convicted and jailed for child abuse in recent years.

Child rape continued to be a serious problem in Cambodia, the U.S. State Department said in a 2016 report.

An embassy spokesman said he could not comment and referred queries to the State Department. The State Department declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

“We note only that the Embassy has clear and firm policies regarding appropriate employee conduct as well as an appeal process for employees who believe they were unfairly terminated,” the State Department said in an email statement to Reuters.

Reuters could not contact any of the workers who had been fired. The FBI could not be reached for comment and Cambodian police spokesman Kirth Chantharith also could not be reached for comment.

It was not immediately possible to get a figure for the number of people employed at the embassy, which is housed in a purpose-built, city-centre compound.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Say 'Hello' To Armless Bae, The New Queen Of Social Media!

Guyssssss!A new model is trending on social media. Her name is Ashley and in addition to modeling on Instagram, she’s also a student at North Carolina A&T. She's hot gorgeous, no doubt. BUT Ashley has an unusual feature – she was only born with one arm. But instead of that being a HANDICAP . .. it’s actually made her a lot more interesting. Here are her pics . . .

WWE Releases Hit Row, Tegan Nox, John Morrison, Drake Maverick, And More.

WWE has released 8 Superstars from their contracts. John Morrison, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, Isaiah Swerve Scott, Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Jaxson Ryker and Shane Thorne.

Iran's keeper Zohreh Koudaei accused of being a man.

  Iranian women's football team goalkeeper, Zohreh Koudaei, has been accused of being a man by the Jordan Football Association after she saved two penalties for a crucial win against Jordan.  As a result of these saves in a penalty shoot out which ended 4-2, Iran earned a place at the Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in the country’s history. The cup will take place in India in 2022.  Jordan FA is now asking for a gender verification check. Lol. Jordan FA President Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein took to Twitter to share a letter to the Asian Football Confederation calling for an official investigation into the sex of Koudaei.