Paper Accuses Official of Trying To Suppress Story
By Prak Chan Thul
The Cambodia Daily
The country's best-selling newspaper, Rasmei Kampuchea Daily, has accused Funcinpec's Siem Reap Provincial Governor Sim Son of buying up almost all copies of the paper in the province on Tuesday in a bid to suppress a critical story. Editor-in-Chief Pen Samithy said Thursday that the mass purchases totaling between 600 and 700 copies of Tuesday's Rasmei Kampuchea had deprived Siem Reap's people of his newspaper. On Sunday and Tuesday, Rasmei Kampuchea contained articles accusing Sim Son of involvement in questionable land deals, Pen Samithy said "It violates the rights of other readers but there is no law to ban buying all [the papers] like that," he said. The articles accused Sim Son of selling a public lake, sheering 4 meters off a 100-meter long stretch of public road to build apartments and authorizing an overcrowded market in the center of Siem Reap town, Pen Samithy said. Sim Son could not be reached for comment Cheang Lim Sreang, deputy provincial governor and a Funcinpec member, denied that the paper had been targeted and claimed copies were available on Tuesday. He also denied the governor had sold a section of road or authorized the market. Asked if he thought the allegations were part of a larger campaign by the CPP against Funcinpec, Cheang Lim Sreang said the public should decide for themselves. "Let the people judge such incidents," he said.
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