Vong Dara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03/05/2007
A group of reporters, including a man from Radio Free Asia, was threatened Thursday by a district governor, a journalist said Thursday.
Reporters had been observing a demonstration calling for the removal of the principal and vice principal of Dom Dek High School in Siem Reap, Mak Samphea, governor of Soth Nikum district, arrived.
The district governor threatened to arrest anyone jeopardizing public security, including teachers and journalists, Sav Yuth, a reporter for Radio Free Asia, told VOA Khmer.
Mak Samphea also asked his bodyguards to confiscate Sav Yuth's identification card, to make photocopies.
Mak Samphea declined to comment on the confrontation, which took place on World Press Freedom Day and underscored the often-cantankerous relationship government officials have with journalists.
Cambodian press was recently ranked "partly free" by the Freedom House organization, which issued an annual report Tuesday. The designation was an improvement over 2006's classification, "not free."
"Attacks on the press have declined significantly in recent years," the group said, "although several cases of harassment and threats were reported in 2006."
An Information Ministry official told VOA Khmer that the district governor's actions were "wrong."
The demonstrators were protesting the alleged beating of a fellow student in March by Dom Dek High School staff.
Reporters had been observing a demonstration calling for the removal of the principal and vice principal of Dom Dek High School in Siem Reap, Mak Samphea, governor of Soth Nikum district, arrived.
The district governor threatened to arrest anyone jeopardizing public security, including teachers and journalists, Sav Yuth, a reporter for Radio Free Asia, told VOA Khmer.
Mak Samphea also asked his bodyguards to confiscate Sav Yuth's identification card, to make photocopies.
Mak Samphea declined to comment on the confrontation, which took place on World Press Freedom Day and underscored the often-cantankerous relationship government officials have with journalists.
Cambodian press was recently ranked "partly free" by the Freedom House organization, which issued an annual report Tuesday. The designation was an improvement over 2006's classification, "not free."
"Attacks on the press have declined significantly in recent years," the group said, "although several cases of harassment and threats were reported in 2006."
An Information Ministry official told VOA Khmer that the district governor's actions were "wrong."
The demonstrators were protesting the alleged beating of a fellow student in March by Dom Dek High School staff.
8 comments:
Thank you to all governors for
protecting Cambodia by not
allowing any stupid press to defame
our country without reason
whasoever
You stupid f*cker, journalists were there to report beating of a high school kid. What an idiot.
Yeah, but we don't want to report
the beating. We prefered to just
send the abuser to Prey Sor and
done with it.
we are journalist, reporting events is what we do, how the authority chooses to handle those events, however, is not our handling.
The population are grateful for our service of the stories and fact findings we give them.
At least the ones who prefer not to be left in the dark..
Well, we don't need no stupid
journalists for that. We got TVK,
and that is more than enough.
Well, we don't need stupid TVK
for that. We got JOURNALISTS,
because TVK is the youn servant
and JOURNALISTS is enough for
information.
Thank you to all governors for
protecting Cambodia by not
allowing the stupid TVK to defame
our country without reason
whasoever
The stupid TVK will only defamed
you motherfucker (5:12) et al,
no one else.
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