Retired King's Biographer Fined for Defamation
By Prak Chan Thul
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Retired King Norodom Sihanouk's official biographer, Julio Jeldres, was convicted in absentia Friday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Judge Iv Kimsry ordered Jeldres, 54, to pay approximately $2,000 in fines and $2,500 in compensation to the prime-minister for comments published in the April 7, 2005 Cambodia Daily article "Retired King's Biographer Lashes Out at PM."
Jeldres' lawyer Mao Samvutheary requested that prosecutor Sok Roeun drop the charges on the grounds that the email in which Jeldres made his comments was sent to "groups of friends and people he knows" and was not intended for publication.
Cambodia Daily Editor in Chief Kevin Doyle told the court that the article containing excerpts from Jeldres' email was published under the impression that it was a public statement and it was only discovered later that the e-mail was personal correspondence.
Sok Roeun argued that by sending the email to multiple people, Jeldres had made the message public.
"A secret is only one person," the prosecutor said. "Is it a secret if sent to friends?"
In an separate case Friday, the chief editor of a Monesakar Khmer newspaper was convicted in absentia of disinformation for a June 13 article that accused Deputy Prime Minister Sok An of corruption.
Dam Sithek, 35, was ordered to pay $2,000 fine and S2,500 in compensation to Sok An.
Dam Sithek said later by phone that he had not attended the trial because he did not believe justice would be served, adding that he did not recognize the verdict and would refuse to pay the fine.
Judge Iv Kimsry ordered Jeldres, 54, to pay approximately $2,000 in fines and $2,500 in compensation to the prime-minister for comments published in the April 7, 2005 Cambodia Daily article "Retired King's Biographer Lashes Out at PM."
Jeldres' lawyer Mao Samvutheary requested that prosecutor Sok Roeun drop the charges on the grounds that the email in which Jeldres made his comments was sent to "groups of friends and people he knows" and was not intended for publication.
Cambodia Daily Editor in Chief Kevin Doyle told the court that the article containing excerpts from Jeldres' email was published under the impression that it was a public statement and it was only discovered later that the e-mail was personal correspondence.
Sok Roeun argued that by sending the email to multiple people, Jeldres had made the message public.
"A secret is only one person," the prosecutor said. "Is it a secret if sent to friends?"
In an separate case Friday, the chief editor of a Monesakar Khmer newspaper was convicted in absentia of disinformation for a June 13 article that accused Deputy Prime Minister Sok An of corruption.
Dam Sithek, 35, was ordered to pay $2,000 fine and S2,500 in compensation to Sok An.
Dam Sithek said later by phone that he had not attended the trial because he did not believe justice would be served, adding that he did not recognize the verdict and would refuse to pay the fine.
1 comment:
Ah animal hun sen you are like 10 years old. The ten years old boy has more brain than you. I think you need to start to go to elemenary school.
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